[FRIAM] Potential Vorticity and the Dynamic Tropopause

[Steve Smith]

In a quick search of the InterWebsOfBabel I found the following, also 
first published on April 1, 2024:

*Analysis: "Exploring Mappings and Universality in Meteorological and 
Financial Systems" by Daniel GuPTa, George Phillip Tucker, Nicholas 
Thompson, Stephen Guerin*

    GuPTa et al.'s paper ambitiously tries to connect the chaotic worlds
    of weather patterns and stock market fluctuations with a scholarly
    double hand(wringing) wave, proposing that clouds and cash flows are
    governed by the same universal principles. Their approach? Point out
    big words like 'universality classes' and 'dynamic stability,' and
    hope the conceptual leap doesn’t lose anyone in a high-altitude
    storm of abstraction.

    *Conceptual Jumps and Methodological Gymnastics*

    The authors skate on the thin ice of mangled metaphors and (in)apt
    analogies, equating meteorological measures like potential
    temperature with financial metrics such as net present value. It’s a
    neat trick, suggesting that counting clouds might help us understand
    counting cash—or at least make for an interesting undergraduate
    lecture. However, the paper might have benefited from less
    philosophizing and more data, as the lack of empirical evidence
    turns the exercise into an academic tightrope walk without a safety net.

    *Economic Weather Forecasting*

    The discussion shines a comedic spotlight on how adjusting for
    moisture in weather somehow relates to adjusting for risk in
    finance. It’s an enlightening comparison—if one squints hard enough.
    The suggestion that these adjustments can lead to more robust
    predictive models in both fields is as hopeful as a weatherman
    predicting sunshine in a hurricane.

    *Conclusion: Intellectual Curiosity or Academic Fantasy?*

    In its essence, the paper by GuPTa et al. serves up a tempting
    buffet of interdisciplinary connections, rich with flavors of
    complexity but light on the meat of proof. It dances around the
    maypole of theoretical possibilities, cheerfully tying ribbons of
    finance and meteorology together, but it doesn’t quite convince us
    to join the dance. Future work, hopefully, might include actual data
    to anchor the whimsical kites the authors have set aloft in this
    breezy exploration.

    This paper is reminiscent of Doug (with a bone) Robert's 2010 paper
    on "The EconoPhysics of Swirlies" in spite of significant
    differences in content and style.

- S. Snark

> Nick,
>
> Gupta and Tucker have a working draft paper making Complexity 
> connections between Weather and Financial Markets. They must have been 
> lurking on FRIAM and listening in on our in-person chat Friday. They 
> listed you as a co-author!  Looks like it needs to be edited and 
> filled out a bit ;-)
>
>   Their paper is at: https://bit.ly/WeatherFinance_GuptaTucker_etal
>
> Some of their Meteorological - Financial analogies:
>
>   * Potential Temperature and Net Present Value
>   * Equivalent Potential Temperature and Risk-Adjusted NPV
>   * Atmospheric Lapse Rate and Bond Yield Curves with and without
>     inversions
>   * Potential Vorticity and Market Liquidity
>
>
>
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