Limitations

The University tower is above everything we are doing. It’s so strange; the course is over; we have moved; plans and dreams have changed; but the tower is there. Actually, it’s become closer, we can see it out of the window, and at night, when everything is quiet, we can hear it toll.

We’ve had quite a few parties recently. We have a million friends, mainly Rishab’s; we can’t invite a million at once, so we have been doing it in portions. I’ve quite enjoyed it, actually; all I do is spend the day cooking, and light the candles between main course and dessert. I love it.

The dissertation is going pretty badly, I have to say. I’ve done about half of my literature review and decided to stop doing that and start the empirical part. I would like to look at the oil prices, RTS index, petroleum index and the residual index, and see correlations between these things, comparing different periods. However, I need to use cointegration for that, which I have no idea how to use. So I am very confused actually. I’ll simply read all the papers I have which explore Russian financial markets and see if I can do anything similar with different series. I’m quite concerned about the data and method.

It took me two hours to post this. I don’t know what happened; I’ve experienced technical problems with my blogs for two days. Exhausted; I’ll think about something better to write and do it tomorrow. Or day after. (I think I should start a ‘procrastinators’ blog’)

Quoting, Reading List and Indignation

I used to feel a thrill at teaching my students the elegant economic theories that could supposedly solve societal problems of all types. But in 1974, I started to dread my own lectures. What good were all my complex theories when people were dying of starvation on the sidewalks and porches across from my lecture hall? 

Muhammad Yunus, Winner of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Establisher of Grameen Bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Yunus) on famine in Bangladesh.

It’s been a ‘book week’. As well as last week. Rishab brought from the Library Dante’s Divine Comedy, Chekhov’s Seagull, the 1^st volume of War and Peace, some Icelandic Sagas. I borrowed Hakamada’s Sex in Big Politics (‘sex’ in the meaning of ‘gender’), Politkovskaya’s Putin’s Russia, a thick volume of Soviet-published Pushkin. I am also reading Galbraith’s Age of Uncertainty, Sen’s Development as Freedom (another Nobel Prize winner), and periodically, when alone, read out loud to myself some poems by Nabokov and Blok. Rishab is still reading Master i Margarita after a few weeks’ break.  

Dante is unreadable. I mean, even (or especially?) in English translation (should perhaps ask Elisa if she’s read it in the original). I mean, for an unprepared reader.  

Hakamada’s book was swallowed by me in a few hours. At first I was snobbish, and I noticed a few spelling mistakes; but I loved the content, and it gave me a few good insights about the (im)possibility of democracy in Russia, some features of Russian mentality and (oh shame) some elements of Russians’ image in the West (shameful and precise). I like her writing style, because she is neutral. She worked side-by-side with all those notorious political figures, including Putin, and she neither praises them nor accuses them of all possible and impossible sins.  

Politkovskaya’s book, I think, is badly written. I do not understand her charges, her writing is obscure and not compelling, and, above all, to a certain extent pathetic. I’m not trying to diminish the seriousness of the problems she tackles, and I’m not saying they aren’t monstrous and appalling; it’s just that I didn’t like the book. 

Pushkin is referring to Dante all the way but, to me, Onegin IS divine. I think I’ll scrounge War in Peace in Russian and re-read the description of that first Natasha’s ball… Erm… Yes.  

Galbraith is amazing and great, insightful and humorous. His book is about the great brains of Economics, and how their ideas have influenced society. Reading his book is like meeting a family; everyone is connected, everyone becomes alive and human and starts arguing or colluding with everyone else. Ideas and people come off the dusty black-and-white textbook pages and become what they (at least according to Galbraith) really are.

For instance, look at what he wrote about New Lanark (see Lots of Links and My Mother’s Laughter), now presented as an example of an advanced and humane institution of the time:  The atmosphere was of the highest moral tone. Each of the orphans was given and hour and a half of rigorous schooling each day. However, … the schooling was in the evening after a good, honest, thirteen-hour day in the mills.  

No one should be too shocked, he writes further. By the standards of the time New Lanark was a place of compassion and culture, if not exactly of rest. With Owen taking over the mills, the working day was cut down to 10.5 hours and children under TWELVE were not employed. ‘No one should be shocked’, however. It’s still much worse than that in so many places all over the world even today.  

I also loved the following:  In the last century the East India Company was the source of income for Britain’s greatest economists – besides Malthus, James Mill and his prodigious and luminous son, John Stuart Mill. No one of them, it is interesting to note, was ever on the subcontinent, and this was not thought to be a handicap. James Mill produced a highly regarded history of  the British in India. In included a devastating critique of the Hindu epics, which he deeply disliked, which he could not read in the original and which had not then been translated into English. 

And, as if that’s not spicy enough: The Mills, needless to say, were Scotch (needless to say, Galbraith was of Scottish descent himself). 

Sen’s book is quite dull, though an acknowledged pearl. However, I have to read it, because it’s on the unannounced reading list of everyone studying Economics, and I have to read it quickly, because someone has requested it, so I’ll have to return it soon. On reading, I discovered that it is quite interesting. Sen is not eloquent, but he is subtle and clever. 

As for Nabokov and Blok… what can I say. 

‘How would you say “delightful talk” in Russian?’

‘How would you say “good night”?’                                                           

Oh, that would be:

‘Bessonnitza, tvoy vzor oonyl i strashen,

Lubov moya, otstoopnika prosti’.

(Nabokov, An Evening of Russian Poetry) 

Ok, so that was an overview of what we’re reading. What we’ve seen… Quite a few films, but nothing worth mentioning, really, and I am running out of time. I hope for the better for the next couple of weeks.

Then, there is this fabulous CD which I bought in One World, with Celtic music beautifully arranged and mixed with other styles. It’s more of a promo CD, featuring Cara Dillon, Michael McGoldrick, Capercaillie, Ashley MacIsaac. Great stuff, so-to-speak. It’s absolutely free from oilness and cheesiness, and obscurity of so much of the folk music. It’s austere, fresh and crispy; and at the same time rich and tangy. And it says a lot. There is a beautiful song by Gwenno called Tryweryn. It’s about a Welsh village flooded in order to make a reservoir to supply water to England (http://www.llgc.org.uk/ymgyrchu/Dwr/Tryweryn/index-e.htm). Liverpool authorities apologised later on (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4354256.stm), but… The song is great anyway. 

Other than that, dissertation. I have read a hundred of articles (at least it took me that much time), and now trying to see what happens there. Create a big picture. This process if very painful and slow. Especially when you are surrounded by all those books. Especially because the picture looks very controversial. For instance. And this is serious, I’m not making it up. You read an article on the influence of oil prices on Russian stocks. In the intro, they say: we are going to show you how great the correlation is between oil and Russian stocks. Fine. Then they go into Econometrics. First results show that there is no correlation. Fine. Now we are going to use another technique blahblahblah. Now, the results show that there is correlation, but it is insignificant. Fine. Use some other data. The results show that it is still insignificant. Excellent. Now, make all amends, additional tests and checks. Again nothing. Then the empirical part ends, and there is conclusion, where it is said that THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE CORRELATION BETWEEN OIL AND RUSSIAN STOCKS shows that … that Russian stocks depend on oil, basically, what else. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? I read and re-read the article 2, 3 times. Still the same picture. Intro and conclusion say there is correlation; in the estimations there doesn’t even smell of any correlation. And this is not just one article! I saw 2 or 3 articles like this, seriously. I must be very, very ill. In vain did I get 9 out of 9 in my IELTS reading comprehension test. Phew. That’s it. I expressed my indignation. Thank you.

Some Adventures and Uninspired

Life’s been insane. Now, finally, I’m in our beautiful home, trying to contemplate.

The last couple of days we have been settling in the flat mainly; it’s amazing how much time and energy goes on this (sounds like a very lame excuse from studying). Only the bathroom, finally WHITE, took a whole day… On Wednesday, went to a conference dedicated to a quest for a heterodox view on development and institutions. Quite a few very prominent speakers were invited and gave profound presentations of their research; but I will be frank with you, I’ll confess I didn’t enjoy it the way I had expected. All they were saying rang bells with me at some level, but it was more like some vague shadows of something I know; I could not connect things and make them fall into place, and my mind was wandering. It’s hard to say why.

I was thinking about econometrics, for instance. I thought, how imperfect a tool it is, and yet there is hardly anything better devised so far to test hypotheses. The very thought of how much manipulation of the data econometrics allows makes me shudder (I won’t go into detail just yet…). I quite liked Econometrics when we studied it, but I feel desperate when I think of a more long-term relationship with it, to be honest.

By the way, our exam results have been announced; I am both happy and disappointed, because I expected worse results for some subjects and better for others, so on average it’s just about ok; but frankly speaking, not too motivating… I probably need some time to get over it, that’s all.

Anyway, the real highlight of the last couple of weeks was my trip to England. We met with Rishab in London on the 22nd; I went for a job interview of sorts, with no particular results (everything depends on me, actually, not on them). Then we headed for Oxford, where the following day we attended a conference organised by the postgraduate students of Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, which was quite informal and fun. We had great time with Rishab in Oxford, though very brief; Oxford is the town where I had spent some of the happiest days of my life three years ago, no matter how cheesy it may sound. On Sunday Rishab was in London, and I went to Cambridge to catch up with my friend Ross’s parents, which was very enjoyable.

On Monday we re-united in London, went to some galleries, met with my friends near Victoria, and… I’m supposed to say ‘left for Glasgow on a night bus’, but in fact, and it was truly dramatic, for a certain reason we couldn’t get on that bus, and spent an adventurous night in Victoria station, from which we only went to Euston at 5.30 a.m. the following day, and caught a train to Glasgow from there, which cost us nearly 200 pounds.

The real surprises of the night included:

1) the fact that there were almost as many people in the street at 2 a.m. as during the day;

2) a taxi driver DIDN’T want to make money on us;

3) the station was closed from 1.00 to 3.00 THOUGH THE TRAINS KEPT DEPARTING FROM IT.

The amount and intensity of the adventures were such that when I saw ‘Glasgow’ on the departures screen in Euston, I nearly started dancing. I never imagined Glasgow being such a cherished combination of letters, and such a great place to return to.  

Well, now back home, and the laptop is open, with files on oil prices and stock markets arranged in a pretty cascade. I won’t pretend I’m happy with it; I am a bit lost in these materials, and struggle to put my thoughts together on what I want to do and how I’m going to do it. I don’t want to complain and moan and make you hate me, either. So I’d better stop here, to resume later on, when I’m in a more inspired-for-dissertation mood. Yes. So. Stop here, right. Here it is. Full stop.

6 Biscuits and Other Methods

On Thursday, I met my supervisor. On Friday, I finished moving and went to IKEA. On Saturday I went to Stirling to stay overnight at Veronika’s place. As all these are extremely demanding and remarkable accomplishments, I now decided that I can reward myself appropriately. So now I’m sitting on the blue sofa in our living-room, drinking tea with milk and eating chocolate chip biscuits. I decided that I will have an unrestricted amount of chocolate chip biscuits. I’ll start with 6 and see how it goes (I start counting: one.).

Biscuit 2: It was sad to leave the student accommodation. It was such a wonderful time; so strange to realise it’s over, and will never repeat. I won’t miss my flatmates at all though, only Yuki. I already miss him. He’s great; I remember he was the first person I interacted with when I moved in: he helped me to drag my enormous suitcase upstairs. So, who do you think it will be who will help me to drag my enormous suitcase downstairs when I move out? Of course, Yuki again. When we were standing downstairs in icy wind, he told me that I was the best flatmate! How sweet. I told him that I felt exactly the same about him.

Biscuit 3: At Veronika’s, we (Veronika, Dace and me) saw an Argentinian film (Valentin), while the gentlemen (Cesar (Veronika’s husband) and Jose) were playing chess. They played 2 games, Cesar won both. Before that, we had a heated discussion around the following closely related issues: jobs in Economic Development; whether it is worthwhile to pursue a PhD; our knowledge of Econometrics; our mental and psychological abilities.

Biscuit 4: Talking about Econometrics. On Friday, I slept alone in the new flat, which was quite a … torture I would say. I was extremely alert and woke up from each sound outside. But the main thing was ONE PARTICULAR SOUND IN THE FLAT ITSELF. It was something between floor creaking, a clock ticking and water dripping. I investigated the case thoroughly to discover that, according to the preliminary estimation, the sound was generated by the storeroom in the living-room. I spent 15 minutes in the said place trying to figure out what on earth it could be, but without any success. I went to bed, and the sound continued at certain intervals. I examined the series and established that the intervals were not exactly regular (so I concluded that it could not be a clock, neither a bomb, the latter being somewhat comforting). It was quite eerie. At a certain point I got a bit dramatic (probably due to mental and physical exhaustion) and instructed myself: ‘THINK. Your brain is the only weapon against the complexities and dangers of this world. You are more than halfway through your MSc in Economics. You have studied growth theories, monetary models, statistical and mathematical tools, so THINK’ (Biscuit 5). I was trying to apply the knowledge I already had; can I solve this problem by backward induction (see (Un?)Sustainable Development)? Can I run an OLS? Or shall I try taking logs and differentiating? When the time I had spent puzzling was long enough (means I had a long enough series already), I had a very vague impulse to stand up, peep into Gujarati and see if COINTEGRATION was possible and whether I could do it with a trivial and imprecise statistical package (my head), but fortunately for both myself and the phenomenon in question, upon this thought I fell asleep.

Biscuit 6: the sound is still there, as before; I can hear it right now, from the sofa. However, since it doesn’t appear to bring any harm upon anyone, I think I shall come to terms with it and let us coexist. Elisa will come tonight to stay over, and maybe we can do some further research. (She took Advanced Econometrics, which is a great asset in this particular case.)

Accidental Incident

I saw the Fountain the other day. I wish I hadn’t. It was such a wrong time to see it; I was a bit unnerved by the sleepless night (Rishab had left for Delhi at 2.30 a.m.), and something else… I can’t define… apprehension, sadness, I don’t know. I’d waited for that film for so long, and it was such a wrong time to see it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountain 

 Will have to leave the halls soon to move to the flat we’ve rented. I feel a bit sad; my room and kitchen now seem so dear. So many great memories; such a big step out somewhere… forward, perhaps… Sad. The flat, on the other hand, is … spooky. It’s an old house, damp, with a fireplace (not functioning, naturally), scary gas boiler in the middle of the wall in the kitchen… Yes. Positive thinking. It’s a great location, and I like the living room. We also found whimsical (silver?) English cutlery, and enjoyed using it. There is a fantastic shop round the corner, with simply the best scones, great cakes, fruit, different upmarket yummies etc. Two minutes in the other direction is Byres Road… Which speaks for itself.

I am reading for my dissertation, and I am seriously scared. The amount of literature is enormous, and frankly I am getting more confused the more I read. Will spend a day tomorrow, and then try to pull myself together and look for the data I need… Scary. I wish I’d done it during the term.

My friend Ross came at the end of May. He’s an Englishman living in Australia (like many Englishmen). Was very strange to meet him in Glasgow; we’ve met in England, Russia, Switzerland, and now Glasgow; I can’t say I enjoyed it or not… I probably did… he’s a great friend. Were talking about jobs; he hates his (project management consultant); it gives him good money, but he wants to do something more meaningful. And: he’s writing a book. About MAGIC. Inspiring.  Surely I could start writing about fairies along with the dissertation on stock markets?

Writing: we had the Creative Writing Anthology Launch on 31 May. I am happy with the book; a lot of good writing, and looks great. I hate my bits though; I can struggle through the half of the first one, completely choking by the end; the second one I can’t handle at all. And I made a funny mistake in my ‘biography’. I can tell you. I wrote ‘accidentally’ instead of ‘incidentally’. As far as I understand, ‘incidentally’ means ‘by the way’. ‘Accidentally’, to the best of my knowledge, in the given context means absolutely nothing. Hahaha.

(Un?)Sustainable Development

I have no clue what marks we’re going to get (actually … apprehensive), we studied. Here are a few facts for your consideration, presumably proving this. We:

1) didn’t go to bed once without formulae;

2) discussed how possibly could alpha be equal to one-third with the book crushed into the limes someone was making cocktails with on Christmas Eve; 

3) on New Year’s Eve, when everyone else was watching Youtube, (I) read about Accumulation of Capital;

4) could only tell Saturday from any other day because the Library closes at 7.30;

5) to the question ‘How was your weekend?’ used to lift our heads from the book, frown and say ‘Eh?..’;

6) insert ‘basically’ in every phrase, and if someone doesn’t, someone else says: ‘You forgot ‘basically’.’

7) etc.

(Not to mention that at some point I suggested opening a candy by backward induction, and when someone offered me some milk with my tea I said I had no incentive to deviate (non-economic degree-holders: disregard).)

So, now we are supposed to fly in the sky, happy and free, but it’s far from that. First of all, I’m sitting down at my dissertation tomorrow. Second, jobs. I was going to apply for a job in one company (received an ad by mail), and realised that my CV… Erm… IS NO GOOD. Third, the exams themselves were greatly disappointing in terms of… performance. I laughed for the two hours in Macro (at my silliness in preparation), and wiped tears in Micro. Classic!

Went to the concert of … Travis (!) on the 17th with my Japanese flatmate Yuki. The concert was quite mediocre and I yawned (don’t tell Yuki), but afterwards we went home together, and had a superb conversation. We were talking about Buddhism, and peace of mind, and the moments one shall never forget. He was telling how he participated in some festive marathons back home, and how tired and empty he would be afterwards, and how hard it would be to come back to routine life; I was telling him how we organised student festivals at University, and how tired and empty I used to be afterwards, and how impossibly hard it was to come back to routine life. The streets were half-empty and well-lit, and the sky was pitch dark, and the awesome church in Vincent Street was like a magnificent ghost hanging over the city and piercing the sky with its sharp tower top. 

(In the afternoon of that day Rish and I had attended a talk organised by eSharp (www.sharp.arts.gla.ac.uk) on some issues of academic life. The talk was splendid; and funnily, when I went to Merchant city later on, I bumped into that same guy who was giving the talk! He was shopping apparently.)

I borrowed a video by Travis called ‘closer’ from Yuki, and was amused how shamelessly they stole things from Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees, and how pitiful it looks in terms of quality, content and cheesiness (sorry; it’s just my opinion, I might misunderstand something). I then dusted off and watched Radiohead’s Trees  (and Street Spirit to boot – both spectacular), and restored my satisfaction with life.

Just a couple more things. My flatmate Andrea studies Archaeology, and: she goes to ‘dig’ at the sites one of which is 2000 years old, and the other one ‘medieval, nothing special’. I am so impressed. She goes every day, while I’m sitting at my books about allocations… Not that I’m complaining or anything. Just happy for her.

Finally, I was thinking recently about convergence (I see someone reaching for Wikipedia; fine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergence#Social_sciences). The first time I heard this term I shrugged; it made me suspicious. Then while I was absorbed in studying, the suspicions somewhat dissolved; now I’m shrugging again. What does it mean, convergence? Who is catching up with whom and why? What is behind this GDP race? Does it make any sense? In a way, I feel that all the humankind is doing at the moment is just exhausting the Earth’s resources and abusing its benevolence; exhausting ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually; and all for the sake of catching up with some LIFESTYLE which we regard as desirable. Not everyone, of course, but most of us (myself belonging to the interval with 100% probability). I realise that economic growth MAY provide the freedoms Sen is writing about (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen), but not necessarily (as he also writes), and I’m so not sure about the means… All in all, convergence is a purely econometric, obsolete and useless notion. I think… Anyway, Economics is much more than that, and I believe that there should be more cooperation between Economics, and Psychology, and Sociology, and Philosophy… to make more sense…

Still Studying

I don’t know why we argue with Rishab so much about almost everything we study. Yesterday in Offshore we argued because he referred to Solow model as ’stupid’, so I went berserk; in the evening, we argued for 15 minutes about intellectual property rights; today I was studying Microeconomics, and told him about the St-Petersburg Paradox (re: subjective probabilities: http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/phisci/Gallery/D.bernoulli_note.html), and we had a debate about the solution which I refused to accept. Probably we argue so much because it’s fun, and also because a good way to learn something is to explain it to someone else; by extension, the best way is to have a heated argument on it.

(As for the Solow model (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Solow), I have a deep emotional attachment to it, since it was the first model of economic growth in my life, and … it therefore produced a great impression on me. Furthermore, in every successive chapter of a textbook on Economic Growth the solution comes up and gets augmented, and… but whatever, I’m not boring you.)

Apart from studying, nothing’s really happening (God, I can’t believe the day has come when I actually said it. Congratulations me.). Irina came from Germany with three more people, but quite frankly I couldn’t enjoy the time spent with them properly, because all I could think of was exam preparation which I wasn’t doing, so ended up quite stressed. Went to a gig by Hafdis Huld, an Icelandic singer (http://www.hafdishuld.com/); wasn’t bad, but unfairly short compared to the amount of time we spent listening to support artists. Had seen a very good film, Das Leben der Anderen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Others) with the CDS gang; had to get a cab home in the pouring rain.

A few more days coming with nothing else but studying; however, I’m at the point where it has become really interesting, I have to admit. Suddenly all those models start falling into place, and you are able to incorporate them into your bigger picture of the world; they are no longer abstract models, but proper food for your brain. I only wish I could spend more time on everything, and ponder, and read more. It’s very unfortunate that we have six exams in a month, doesn’t give you enough space. Of course, you come up with the feeling that you know the course, and only have to revise a bit; but in the process discover how much more you could have read, and wish you could stop and think things over, and discuss with someone (heatedly), and compare, and analyse. Excited and looking forward to PhD. Haha.

Ex.ams

Hah. Sat the first exam today, Basic Econometrics. Everyone was stressed before, and depressed after. As usual. As in the previous, undergraduate, life.

We came half an hour early and were hanging out the West Hunter Halls, surrounded by the magnificent Victorian Towers. To my shame, I only noticed the magnificent towers 25 minutes after I came there, when someone draw everyone’s attention to the fact that ‘it’s flattering to do the exams in the main building’. I remember how impressed I was when I first saw the building on my arrival to Glasgow, in September; shows how quickly you get used to magnificent things.

Yesterday we sat to revise in our good old study group, with Lisa, Vlad and Rajneesh, at Vlad’s place. I was surprised to see the contrast with the CDS (http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/developmentstudies/) gatherings which I’ve got used to recently. We came to the conclusion that, from our perspective, it was the right choice to take Economics (http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/economics/postgraduatestudy/postgraduatetaughtprogrammes/mscininternationalfinancialeconomics/)  rather than Economic Development (http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/developmentstudies/postgraduatetaughtprogrammes/mscineconomicdevelopment/), because the grounds that we (allegedly…) have now are quite good, and the practical aspect can always be developed through on-the-job training. Indeed, I feel quite safe now that I’ve seen what the theory of economics looks like, and it would be hard to surprise me with anything from that sphere… more than I have been surprised so far. I enjoy our discussions and sometimes arguments with Rishab. For instance, we have developed a conspiracy theory about World Bank  www.worldbank.com and IMF www.imf.org (with developmental and economic justification (can’t tell you exactly what the theory is, because it’s a conspiracy theory)). On the other hand, we disagree sometimes, too; I was telling him yesterday about Pareto efficiency, and how one can have an allocation where one HAS EVERYTHING and the other HAS NOTHING, and it is a Pareto efficient allocation, which upset him a lot. However, I explained later on that Microeconomics looks further to see the best of these allocations, where both maximise their utility function; it made him a bit happier, though not entirely, as I said still later that this is not particularly interesting for a pure theoretician. Altogether, I think I benefit a lot from discussing things with Rishab, or hearing other CDS people’s perspetives; it’s a very good exercise for the mind to take in both theoretical and practical approach, and see where they match and where there is a gap; somehow, it’s good from the moral side, too… but I don’t know how to explain this point.

Anyway, it was good to catch up with the economists after all this time we haven’t studied together. Rajneesh and I have Economics of Finance tomorrow morning, so tonight we’ll probably catch up to resolve any ‘doubts’ as he calls it.

I feel quite scared and panicked, but not about the exams. Most of the degree is done, at least time-wise; now sit your exams, write your thesis in 3 months, and off you go. And this is shocking…

We went to a talk by Carlos Gustavo Cano, the member of the Board of Directors of Columbian Central Bank a couple of weeks ago. He spoke about Global Warming, and the possibilities of market mechanisms to resolve the problem. The speech was fascinating, only some of us disagreed with the specific technicalities of the ’solutions’, and some do not believe in market mechanisms, full stop. Whenever the speaker was confronted, he would smile wisely, wink (well… almost) and say: ‘Yes, you are right, every policy will have offsetting effects, so one must consider the net effect!’. That’s very wise indeed, but it means that there is never an answer to anything, only more and more questions. That’s why I feel more and more ignorant the more I study. (Classics, Plato, etc.)

Rishab seems to like Master and Margarita, but someone has put a hold on the book, so I’ll have to return it. Too bad. No time for proper reading though, anyway. Someone’s studying Bulgakov, wow… Hope it’s not Dace, our classmate. But I doubt it’s her: who would put a hold on Bulgakov in the middle of exams in Economic Development?

Now, talking about Dace, she is a kind soul. I borrowed a bike from her for a week or so, and cycled all over the park. I can cycle! I learnt how to cycle uphill, downhill and how to turn! And: no-one was killed (a strange and important fact). So with my uphill/downhill experience, I can now (remote perspective) go to some nice  Scottish places which are in abundance around Glasgow. After exams, of course… After exams.

Earling

Am writing slightly elated by something like national pride… Don’t know if it’s appropriate. I saw Doctor Zhivago by David Lean, which was shot in the 60s; but it’s not the film which impressed me (I didn’t particularly like it), but rather the documentary after the film. I was flattered to see dozens of foreigners working on the film about Russia, and their attention to every detail, and elaborate work, and passion. I am amused again by the irony: a great book about Russia was smuggled abroad and published by an Italian guy, and went all over the world, translated into all possible and impossible languages; but it took decades for it to be published in Russian, the original language, in Russia, the country it is dedicated to. The novel won a Nobel Prize, but Pasternak refused to be awarded since the government presented an ultimatum: if you go to Sweden to receive the prize, we won’t let you back. So he never went and died in two years in… (supposed to say ‘his motherland’, but it doesn’t seem appropriate… was it?) Ironic. Well, at least this is the official version.

Anyway, I am contemplating on Russia’s peculiar path more and more these days. Got stuck today in ‘Slavonic’ literature how they call it in Annexe Level 6. Got Master and Margarita out in the hope to have Rishab read it. He is willing to, but now it’s not the right time for reading deathless novels of deathless beauty (well… minus the lost-in-translation inevitable share of deathlessness). Too much pressure from the exams etc.

Talking about Russia; met with my dissertation supervisor; I think I was not prepared at all, so no particular outcome so far.

We went to Edinburgh on Monday to do some more work for Scottish Youth Parliament. It was less exciting, and I was tired afterwards; but it’s good to get away from Glasgow for a change and do something other than Economics.

In my exam preparation I have bitten from every subject, but haven’t done any of them to the point where I’d be satisfied. Macro has huge chunks bitten from it; so does International Finance and Money. IMF, World Bank and Economic Growth is a disaster. We went through the first half of the lectures with Rish, and it seems fine,  but it requires a lot of reading anyway, which I haven’t done. Microeconomics is barely halfway through. I played around with Game Theory, and rushed through oligopolistic models which I detest (it’s all cheating); there is still Risk, Uncertainty, Inequality and Welfare left. Today ran through the half of the Econometrics course and feel quite satisfied. It’s like a blessing after all the previous courses; so easy in comparison. Hope for the same with Economics of Finance.

Have been doing more group studying, which is very productive; only the last time tried to go through New Keynesian theory with Elisa, and were both so exhausted that at some point had to quit.

Saw a very good play http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/story/0,,2054234,00.html . It’s on climate change, but… It’s good. Very well done, funny, scary and sad.

I am being reminded that I have to get up early tomorrow… today actually. Early… funny word. Has to do with some earl… presumably… Mmm… time for bed… …

Hushh

Disaster. I’m sipping away on a Twinings and reading blogs instead of formally outlining RBC (you don’t want to know what RBC is; neither what to formally outline means; neither do I too much… I mean, I already know, but deep down I wish I didn’t).

 We finished lectures a couple of weeks ago, but it looks as if work is only starting now… When you realise how much you are supposed to have learnt by the end of the degree, and how little in fact you know… You might sulk. Or panic. I decided to radically rectify the situation by … surprise! Studying.

My achievements so far: I have reached a point in International Finance and Money where there are sheets with ugly scribblings all around the place (each sheet represents a MODEL), and jokes are being cracked at the poor respectable gentlemen who had the misfortune to devise those models. Or do research on them. E.g.:

- Have you ever met Mundell and Fleming?

- No. But I’d love to. I have a lot to say to them… Both of them.

 Or:

“Meese and Rogoff invented a new method of forecasting the exchange rate. Their method involves a rolling regression technique. The method does not work, but: THEY ESTABLISHED A NEW TRADITION IN ECONOMETRIC ESTIMATION OF THE FIT OF MONETARY MODELS” etc etc.

(I should put a disclaimer on economic blasphemy somewhere on this blog. Like: in case of economic blasphemy, I am very sorry, but I cannot do anything about it, my brain is damaged by economic knowledge etc.)

Now I am two days behind my schedule on Macroeconomics. Whenever I try to sketch a Solow model, it comes out looking as if it was chewed and spat out. I killed half a day on Ramsey model; the fact of death of the half of the day can be proved by the absence of fact of enhanced understanding of the model. But I’ll try again. Now I’m doing the Real Business Cycles model (hello, mysterious RBC), which is an extension of Ramsey, and surprisingly it’s much more understandable, which is against any logic. How can an extension of something be clearer than the thing itself? No logic indeed.

But it’s not all about studying, of course (what a lame, feeble, insincere, dubious phrase). We went to Edinburgh twice, first time to meet and then volunteer for Scottish Youth Parliament. Basically, we just looked through some 60 applications for Glasgow Youth Assembly (http://www.civicusyouth.org), and scored them. Which was fun. I loved the travelling to-and-fro bit, very much.

Back to Glasgow though. Glasgow (sensation!) has been hit. Very strongly, by SPRING. Kelvingrove Park from green turned white, yellow, red, blue etc etc etc. These are the colours of people lying all around the park (I mean people’s clothes, of course). I was shocked yesterday by how decent and proper they are in doing so! There are young people playing GAMES and singing SONGS in CIRCLES, and other unthinkable things. Very impressive.

It has been SUNNY for several days (anomaly), seagulls have been noticed attacking fountains and Adam Smith Building (the latter is definitely an anomaly); people are all wearing SUNglasses (anomaly again). We went jogging along the Clyde yesterday, and the view was splendid. As always, the Island flatters the eye with quaintly beautiful colours, bizarre and gentle shapes of clouds.

I discovered a place called Zest selling all sorts of freshly squeezed juices and smoothies. I have added it to the list of Glasgow’s Most Dangerous Places.

I also RE-discovered the glory of Tchai Ovna. I went there in October, and it was dreadful. It was cold, damp, and horrible. It had to be re-discovered. On Monday, Rishab and I went to Tchai Ovna to listen to the sitar. We listened to the sitar, drank some Arctic Spice tea, and lost the time dimension completely (or rather, time dimension lost US). This place could be tagged as: lush, eccentric, eclectic, Ravi Shankar, odd, nirvana, home, grandma (in the best sense of the word), mushroom-shaped-lavatory-light-switcher, random, cosy, this-plaid-is-exactly-like-the-one-I-have-back-home (so ‘home’ twice),  dream-like, 100-teas (I counted), camels (? why? why not?), hippie, low-fi, fog-mist-smoke, Connection.

I had this strange feeling; when I was 13, I would LOVE to find myself in a place like that. Probably, I was dreaming, I was looking for this place; but I never found it. Reason? Because I was NOT READY for it. If I had found it (which is impossible, but IF), I wouldn’t believe; it would be TOO good, too REAL, too LIFE-LIKE; I wasn’t ready. So I’ve found it now, when I’m READY, but no longer that KEEN on… Ironic, isn’t it. But somehow very comforting, and very wise.

And now as I’m writing this, I think it might be a very, very Alice-in-Wonderland place, as well. There even might be some blue caterpillars. Need to check next time.

I am more and more impressed by Offshore. I went to write my Economics of Finance essay (two pages on the Bubble: was it a Bubble or not? Tricky, tricky…), and I wrote it in TWO HOURS (the assignment on Human Capital, also 2-page-long, I was chewing and rechewing for TWO DAYS). Was it just coffee? Or was it the atmosphere? Or was I too tired already of writing assignments? Anyway, we celebrated April Fool’s Day in Offshore, too. Rishab was reading something dreadful like Cost-Benefit Analysis, I was reading Portfolio Balance Model and laughing at the pictures. A friend of mine called Mayur was fooling me via sms from India. I got fooled. Rishab didn’t.

And: I managed to struggle through with a submission for the anthology, following our Creative Writing Workshop. I thought I’d die. I didn’t know what to submit; I had nothing to submit, really, after 15 years of scribbling. Things were flying around the room, etc.; finally I submitted SOMETHING; actually, there is very little selection, almost none, so some of it will be published anyway… And I als0 typed up very quickly some pieces from Russian into English for a girl called Laura, who has this project which sounds excellent; she collects writing from different people under the theme ‘MUSIC’, and then puts them in booklets; I vaguely imagine how it will eventually look, but I love the idea.

We saw English Patient yesterday. I felt so sad, I can’t describe. It threw me into the state of absolute, infinite, irreversible sadness. I feel as if I can’t tear my eyes from the image of the plane crashing into the sands, with a beautiful dead woman on the passenger seat. I think I will borrow it again from the Library in secret, and see it again. Ssshhh.