Friday, October 25, 2013

Chris Sims on Bayesianism

I just love this piece by Chris Sims: "Bayesian Methods in Applied Econometrics, or, Why Econometrics Should Always and Everywhere Be Bayesian", from 2007.

In addition to the solid content, there are some great take-away snippets, such as:

  • "Bayesian inference is hard in the sense that thinking is hard."
  • "(People) want to characterize uncertainty about parameter values, given the sample that has actually been observed."
  • "Good frequentist practice has a Bayesian interpretation."

  • And Sims' conclusion: "Lose your inhibitions: Put probabilities on parameters without embarrassment."

    I can live with that!

    © 2013, David E. Giles