We live in a complex world with diverse people, firms, and governments whose behaviors aggregate to produce novel, unexpected phenomena. We see political uprisings, market crashes, and a never ending array of social trends. How do we make sense of it? Models. Evidence shows that people who think with models consistently outperform those who don't. And, moreover people who think with lots of models outperform people who use only one. Why do models make us better thinkers? Models help us to better organize information - to make sense of that fire hose or hairball of data (choose your metaphor) available on the Internet. Models improve our abilities to make accurate forecasts. They help us make better decisions and adopt more effective strategies. They even can improve our ability to design institutions and procedures. In this class, I present a starter kit of models: I start with models of tipping points. I move on to cover models explain the wisdom of crowds, models that show why some countries are rich and some are poor, and models that help unpack the strategic decisions of firm and politicians.
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Model Thinking
University of MichiganAbout this Course
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- Modeling
- Economics
- Decision-Making
- Strategic Thinking
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Why Model & Segregation/Peer Effects
Aggregation & Decision Models
Thinking Electrons: Modeling People & Categorical and Linear Models
Tipping Points & Economic Growth
Reviews
- 5 stars82.37%
- 4 stars14.05%
- 3 stars2.17%
- 2 stars0.55%
- 1 star0.83%
TOP REVIEWS FROM MODEL THINKING
I learned much more than anticipated. In fact I've already started exploring areas of my work that model thinking would apply and how to use the tools presented in this class. Highly recommend!
Really good. Fantastic overview.
For my taste it was a bit too easy and it could have gone more in depth in some topics. But I understand the need to keep it general also.
Clear. Well paced. Methodical. Ideal balance of mathematics and practical application. Mathematics not too overwhelming although it did push my thinking hard.
First time I have ever been excited about algebra and calculus. Understanding models will prove to be of great value when asked to interpret the meaning of collected data.
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