Zomb1

Just wanted to say me too.

I used to run Windows version of Stata in Wine on Ubuntu without any problems. It was a while ago, but I suspect this should work now as well. I am not sure what effect this setup would have on performance if you had a large dataset. I only did homework on it:)

Thanks for the reply. I'll try to do it in Python and see how it goes.

Hey guys, I'm trying to write a program that checks for certain equilibria points in a population game setting and I was wondering if you have any recommendations as to which language I should use. I have some started working on the thing in Visual Basic (simply because it was the most convenient for me) and I have some experience using Matlab. Other than that, I would need to learn the language from scratch. The coding itself will not be overly complicated. It does have quite a lot of nested for loops and this is making it rather slow to execute. I did some basic estimate and it would take me around 20 days to run the program at 0.01 step, so speed would be welcome. So what would you recommend? Doing it in Matlab? Maybe Python? Does it matter? Any other suggests?

You should be able to get into Bocconi, though I believe your GRE will preclude you from getting a full scholarship. You might get a partial scholarship though. If you have not already, you should also look into UPF and the Dutch schools.

OK, I'll go first. Marciano Siniscalchi, a game theorist and decision theorist from Northwestern, looks interesting. https://plus.google.com/106281826635291707611/about

I am seeing a lot of game theorists on G+, but they are not sharing anything... Could it be that they are using hangouts with their coauthors?

Sooo, any interesting economists on G+?

I am enjoying it so far. I used FB and Twitter (and now G+) more as away to consume material and less as a way to share, and Circles are a great way to do this. As Erin said I also had problems with video chat (while Skype worked fine) and I found Sparks rather useless.

Why would you need to be an economist by training in order to head the IMF? I though the main purpose of econ PhD is to train future researchers and I do not see that the ability to undertake research is required for a mostly political (as others have noted) position.

I love grand, general statements like this one!

OK, so I'll (probably) be building a desktop this summer, but there is no way I'll be asking questions on this forum! :) You guys are waaaaay ahead of me:)

@SlowLearner38 It's like baby Skynet!

Oh, I think that's called Starcraft 2. :D

Wow, they make you do stuff like this for classes? How often do you have to do something like this?

Ahhh, two monitors. That would be a dream come true:) Also, is anyone willing to say why you prefer LyX over LaTeX? I've used it only briefly, didn't like the interface (me like pretty things:) and went to LaTeX. I'm just curious about what I'm missing.

Hmm, I am planning to sell my laptop and use the money to build a decent desktop with as good as I can afford monitor and a mouse and keyboard. Seriously, I've been using laptops for 6 years now and I almost never take it off my desk. I have no need for 8gb of ram or an i7, but a (very) good monitor and input devices are essential.

I agree with what you are saying. In the context of this thread I meant more of the calculus of the intermediate micro variety, which I believe gets stressed way too often on this forum. As opposed to, say, probability theory.

Could be. I just flipped through Rubinstein's Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, Kreps' Notes on the Theory of Choice and Osborne and Rubinstein's A Course in Game Theory. Plenty of math, but not that much calculus in there.

Is it just me, or is this forum over-emphasizing the importance of calculus? In my experience with PhD-level micro theory courses, calculus was used only rarely and under special assumptions.

Good luck!

@Popolo2 There are two micro texts that Varian wrote and the OP is asking about the baby Varian. I am assuming that your PhD course will be using this versionMicroeconomic Analysis: Amazon.co.uk: Hal R. Varian: Books @OP What do you mean by "advanced micro"? Keep in mind that texts other posters are recommending are quite advanced and may be at or beyond the level of your advanced micro. And I really do not think you should study this material on your own if there is a course you will take anyway. Unless your advanced micro is actually a PhD level course I would stay away from these advanced texts (like Rubinstein, which is actually great). This forum tends to overreact at times:) If I were you, I'd look at the syllabus of your advanced micro and make sure I broadly understand what is going on in each of the topics covered. If it is a truly technical development of micro theory, then knowledge of intermediate micro will not really be crucial. You will get some help from the intuition of intermediate micro, but you will build up everything from scratch anyway. Again, there is no point in studying the material that will be covered in class. If you are really ambitious and have some time to study on your own, you'd be much better off if you study the topics that you find interesting but that may not be covered in your advanced micro course.

A short segment from a satirical British TV show "Yes, Prime Minister".

I am sorry for not being clear. If you already have a certificate of foreign language proficiency (say TOEFL) , you can submit that to Bocconi and they will waive the requirement for that exam. I see you're not Italian, in that case you have to take Italian and a second language of your choice (keep in mind that the choice is constrained and I am not sure if Russian is on the list). The second language can be English though (of course, if English is not your native language). I believe this is a requirement of the Italian state and that Bocconi has no say in the matter. This is also the reason why you have to take a law course and an "institutions" course.

I am not a German, but I really don't think that asking for a response because you have a deadline at another school would hurt. Furthermore, I would never go to a place where asking a question like this would hurt. Bonn GSE also admits students without a Master degree, from their website: