技术(产品)替代、创造性破坏与周期性经济增长

论文以熊彼特的创造性破坏思路为基础,将宏观经济中的长期经济增长和短期经济波动统一为周期性经济增长过程.该文追述创造性破坏概念的生态学根源,并将生态学的结论和方法引入经济学分析,其中竞争是生态学的核心,所以分析种群之间的多种关系,并对照阐述技术(产品)之间的竞争替代类型.用数值模拟方法描述的动态替代过程和美国经济增长的经验分析表明,增长更多地体现为周期性增长.     

Overreaction to Fearsome Risks

When risks threaten, cognitive mechanisms bias people toward action or inaction. Fearsome risks are highly available. The availability bias tells us that this leads people to overestimate their frequency. Therefore, they also overreact to curtail the likelihood or consequences of such risks. More generally, fear can paralyze efforts to think clearly about risks. We draw on a range of environmental risks to show the following: (1) Fear leads us to neglect probability of occurrence; (2) As fearsome environmental risks are usually imposed by others (as externalities), indignation stirs excess reaction; (3) We often misperceive or miscalculate such risks. Two experiments demonstrate probability neglect when fearsome risks arise: (a) willingness-to-pay to eliminate the cancer risk from arsenic in water (described in vivid terms) did not vary despite a 10-fold variation in risk; (b) the willingness-to-accept price for a painful but non dangerous electric shock did not vary between a 1 and 100% chance. Possible explanations relate to the role of the amygdala in impairing cognitive brain function. Government and the law, both made by mortals and both responding to public pressures, similarly neglect probabilities for fearsome risks. Examples relating to shark attacks, Love Canal, alar and terrorism are discussed.     

Joint determination of biological encephalization,economic specialization

In this paper, we develop a paleoeconomic model of the co-evolution of economic specialization and encephalization—the common physiological measure of intelligence as reflected by brain mass relative to total body mass. Our economic analysis links ecological and social intelligence theories of increased encephalization in early hominins through a model in which both economic and ecological feedbacks jointly determined the evolutionary incentives. We focus on degrees of specialization affected by coordination costs with and without market exchange. Our results suggest encephalization would be a process characterized by diminishing returns to behavioral advances. In terms of the long-running debate in economics over whether specialization increases or decreases intelligence, our results suggest from an evolutionary perspective the answer depends on economic/social institutions and how these influence ecological interactions.     

建设海上人工岛及长江口亚三角洲体系的战略意义

近代上海的崛起,依靠的是地处我国弓箭型江海格局关节点的独特区位优势。在上海发展的历史轨迹中,有三个重要的交汇点：即苏州河与黄浦江、黄浦江与长江、长江与东海的汇合处。在第一个交汇点上,形成了以外滩为标志的近代繁华;在第二个交汇点处,包括宝钢、外高桥以及浦东新区,带动了上海改革开放30年的蓬勃发展;而第三个交汇点,就是浩瀚的长江口。上海未来发展的蓝图,将在这里展开。