« Assorted links | Main | Bible fact of the day »
The Bayesian Heresy
New economics blog, by Marshall Jevons. Does anyone know if it is this Marshall Jevons?
Thanks to Paul Asad for the pointer.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 13, 2006 at 04:44 PM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
That can't be his real name, right? It has to be a pseudonym, unless his parents were both strange--and somewhat foolish--economists.
Posted by: John Payne at Dec 13, 2006 6:29:41 PM
There is another Marshall Jevons with that pseudonym; one correspondent indicates it is unlikely that they are the same person...but what do I know?
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Dec 13, 2006 6:41:55 PM
Half of Marshall Jevons is Prof. Kenneth Elzinga, Economist at UVa. Had him for Intro Micro in '04. His class was a major reason I got into Economics. The other half is Willaim Breit.
Posted by: Jeff Shepley at Dec 13, 2006 7:13:20 PM
Marshall Jevons is Ken Elzinga. He makes all his students buy a really crappy detective book he wrote under that pseudonym. He is a decent lecturer for an intro class, but his methods of evaluation were horrible. He makes the exam multiple choice, and then within each of the 5 choices are 5 subtly different combinations. It is like a chinese box and does a very poor job of distinguishing students. Finally since everything is on a curve, people who understand the material just as well as the next person do significantly better or worse on their final grade. His exams were a Bayesian Heresy, and frankly, given what I have read of Greg Mankiw's blog, Elzinga could not hold a candle to him, yet he is one of the best regarded professors at UVA.
Secondly, he ended up recruiting a good friend's sister into his Christian Fundamentalist cult which greatly set her back in life and I will never forgive him for that.
Posted by: Pace at Dec 13, 2006 8:35:03 PM
for some reason i read the marshall jevons stories back in high school. couldn't find the books in bookstores, had to search through the labyrinthlike archives in the old university library with my special access pass. doubt this blogger is the same marshall jevons though.
Posted by: quitacet at Dec 13, 2006 9:05:24 PM
Those Radio National podcast links are a dead giveaway - this Econ nerd is from Australia and therefore not the 'murder at the margin' Jevons.
Posted by: Megan Hevron at Dec 14, 2006 2:58:33 AM
No, the blog is not by either professor of the Marshall Jevons pseudonym. I am 100% sure (from a very reliable witness) that they are now looking into possible copyright infringement.
To "Pace": It sounds like someone is angry that they earned a poor grade on the Econ 201 final. I thought that Elzinga was a excellent professor. In any case, most multiple choice exams are similar to the "Chinese box" which you describe; being able to discern the differences (albeit often subtle differences) between the possible answers is part of distinguishing which students truly understand the subject, and which do not. Though the final was a large part of the grade, the other tests did not involve multiple choice, offering plenty of room to improve your grade outside the final.
As for the subject of your good friend's sister - being "set back in life" is a relatively subjective statement. I would be willing to wager that she is now happier, and that the Christian church which she joined is far from a "cult." I believe that there is more to existence than possessions and life on earth, and I will pray for you.
Posted by: Paul W at Dec 15, 2006 3:24:21 AM
'Real' and 'Fake' Marshall Jevons;
Over at Marginal Revolution, there have been some speculation going about the author(s) of this blog.
Let me assure our readers that the author(s) of this blog are NOT the Marshall Jevons of William Breit
and Kenneth G. Elzinga...
http://bayesianheresy.blogspot.com/2006/12/real-and-fake-marshall-jevons.html
Posted by: MJ at Dec 15, 2006 8:47:22 AM
As I recall, Professor Elzinga attends Trinity Presbyterian Church -- some fundamentalist cult, that!
I thought he was an excellent professor and a fair grader, for what it's worth.
Cheers,
Araglin
Posted by: Araglin at Dec 15, 2006 12:55:16 PM
Its not Bill Breit's kind of thing. As a history of thought prof he is undoubtedly the best in the country. There are legions of his former students and fans. That book was the very start of that particular genre and should be viewed as such instead of Tolstoy. My students loved it and it reached them unlike any textbook could. Some students may think otherwise but many of them aren't up to Tolstoy so..
Posted by: edwardseco at Dec 15, 2006 4:54:06 PM
Weight loss is easier than you think!
Posted by: adipex at Jan 28, 2009 3:42:29 PM
Knight Online Gold
Knight Gold
Knight Noah
Knight Online Noah
Posted by: aion kina at Mar 20, 2009 10:02:30 PM
