Low Present Value

Wednesday, Sept. 25^th, 2013

This was a frustrating afternoon. An idea which I had been thinking about for months back to the days when living in Mission Apartment didn’t work! I tried several DSGE setups and there were always problems. Then I found the main reason is either there is no clearing for a market or the issue I want to ask becomes trivial if I assign a new exogenous condition. I wrote an email to tell older Joe, my colleague and coworker in Japan, that I got stuck in the bottleneck.

In the evening, I resumed the work on the issues of precautionary savings. The first chapter of my dissertation has a brief discussion about it. Now it was time to get my hands dirty and did some empirical routine. I still need more projects, one or two are acceptable.

Thursday, Sept. 26^th, 2013

This was a boring afternoon. The school’s regular gathering always held in the afternoon on Thursday. The last guy giving a lengthy speech is the secretary of the school. I didn’t care about what he said but the only one. He complained that many new young teachers aren’t the members of the political party. WTF. Maybe he was pointing at Joyce and Qian, and even me. After the gathering, we teased each other to join the party. But seriously, being a lifetime capitalism conservative, I am loyal to my belief only, not any party or group. Furthermore, I am a researcher, not a teacher.

There are two things that embarrass a researcher. The first is the lack of technical capability, and the second one is the lack of ideas. The failure yesterday continued haunting me. While taking the shower, I figured out it was possible to expend the DSGE model and switched the original issue a little bit. Now the model would similar to a classic growth model. Let Chein-Yu in might be a good idea. Isn’t there an old saying three normal researchers working together can beat a Nobel Prize winner?

Friday, Sept. 27^th

The atmosphere of a one-week vacation starting from the next Wednesday infested residents and students. The lazy city was more sluggish. I was happy to resist it and stay at the office until 9 pm. I have vivid memories of some moments two years ago when I was in the DH Hill Library at the night on Friday in October or November. It was a tough time to me but I was too foolish to recognize it. Now it was the good old day.

I spent the whole day clearing data. A tedious routine always distracts me. Sometimes I checked the mail boxes, and sometimes I got up to refill water. Then one thing suddenly came to my mind. I told Anne I would call her someday but I haven’t done it. I didn’t know how and what to talk. So I put down the cellphone. “Someday” is a tricky and irresponsible word.

Sunday, Sept. 29^th

Another unproductive day. I almost did nothing in the morning. A nap wouldn’t help since this was a fatigue, not physical weariness. The first job this afternoon was about the cleanliness of the restroom. Frank proposed that Rinaldo is the best one who can complain about the dirty toilets because the dean was more probably to listen to him. I agreed with him. But why did the toilets an issue for researchers? Then someone from the administration office called me to ask whether I join any political party. Another dumb question! I didn’t believe this is a university or school of economics that emphasizes its effort for pursuing academic performance and internationalization.

The only job I did today is working on an easy example of value function iterations. Although it was easy compared with others, it is nothing a beginner can learn. I must be patient for digesting these advanced materials. They will be my future assets that couldn’t be taken away by others. Back to the real world, I was losing patience. The university haven’t paid me and the larger apartment promised in the contract was not ready yet. Without money, I didn’t plan a short trip to Hangzhou. The awful management and maintenance of the current apartment also pissed me off. My intuition is right: living in the abstract world and the dreamland is the better to me.

Tuesday, Oct. 1^st

The study of vale function iterations was interrupted dramatically. I got a fever and wasn’t able to work. I never overestimated my strength; this time I underestimated the probability of getting sick. It could take several days for fully discovered because the environment was awful. The smell of burning straw prevails in the air at night. Air pollution is another dissonance in this agricultural town. People here were either too poor to have enough education and information or not expecting to live long. So far I found no reason to like this place. Based on my experience of visiting so many places, it is very likely I will never find anything good worth mentioning.

No pay, air pollution, sleazy apartment and an unexpected fever shock. Did I miscalculate my present value in the previous period?

Day of Autumn Moon