Weekly News: The Best Language for Economic Research

The Best Language for Economic Research

Python, Matlab, Julia — R. Who would win the battle of the best language for Economic research? That’s probably one of the most common online queries in the programming world. There is just something about humans and our obsession with chasing the very best of the best. 

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In reality, of course, each language has its nuances and areas in which it shines. Anyone claiming to have a definitive answer on the matter should come up with some solid arguments to back their verdict.

And that’s exactly what two London School of Economics researchers did. They looked at different languages based on the power of available libraries, the speed and possibilities when handling large datasets, and the speed and ease-of-use for a computationally intensive task.

Hint: the winner has a woman’s name.

Thanks, but no thanks

That’s the polite version of what UK students were shouting in front of the Department of Education over a week ago. The cause of their anger was an algorithm.  

University admission exams had been cancelled because of the pandemic. Teachers proposed predicting their student’s scores as a way to compromise. The education department dismissed the idea on the grounds that previous research had proved such estimates to be biased. Instead, they decided to use an algorithm.  

Well, that one turned out to be even more biased. Close to 40% of students received lower grades than what their teachers had predicted, potentially harming their chances to get into their university of choice. Those in working-class and disadvantaged communities were disproportionately affected.

The issue has now been fixed, but it’s a textbook examples of the dangers of AI bias.

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