[FRIAM] Exploring Macroeconomics from the Bottom Up with Agent-Based Modeling (ABM)

[Prof David West]

Pieter,

A few years back, an economist colleague and I put together an honors course in alternative approaches to economics. I focused on economic anthropology and he focused on agent based modeling. He used excerpts from these two books and recommended the second one for student reading. You might find them interesting.  Sorry for the Amazon links, i try to use independent bookstores whenever I can.


https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Based-Models-Economics-Domenico-Delli/dp/1108414990/ref=sr_1_4?crid=235GDT8XKIZRV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.L5ByQzLJiwZjSQiCA_INXUhvBQOe2ri2zpYKQPbWgBf60nK2KBTi0QHYEj-3LKoOeWoQbwQWgAZ1xaH_-_heHvbFvWWCHnyeFAmnDoK2vgJbLzcymqM_rMV082-d08FB39dzLNAL6yglvRx2cQ6RO-DtzhXqeOaoxY5GoxU9omhB74tHxgvxbtpLwxGmSUDxMcznHF_JB9Kl-L1bkRI_SR_bn0IAeVBrb78e2hSgTNc.OGaF9PpGGeGfNXDH2getl5Gbr1qE3epjVTG5aY9ef34&dib_tag=se&keywords=agent+based+economics&qid=1744726625&sprefix=agent+based+economics%2Caps%2C649&sr=8-4


https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Based-Modelling-Economics-Lynne-Hamill/dp/1118456076/ref=sr_1_6?crid=235GDT8XKIZRV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.L5ByQzLJiwZjSQiCA_INXUhvBQOe2ri2zpYKQPbWgBf60nK2KBTi0QHYEj-3LKoOeWoQbwQWgAZ1xaH_-_heHvbFvWWCHnyeFAmnDoK2vgJbLzcymqM_rMV082-d08FB39dzLNAL6yglvRx2cQ6RO-DtzhXqeOaoxY5GoxU9omhB74tHxgvxbtpLwxGmSUDxMcznHF_JB9Kl-L1bkRI_SR_bn0IAeVBrb78e2hSgTNc.OGaF9PpGGeGfNXDH2getl5Gbr1qE3epjVTG5aY9ef34&dib_tag=se&keywords=agent+based+economics&qid=1744726737&sprefix=agent+based+economics%2Caps%2C649&sr=8-6


davew

On Tue, Apr 15, 2025, at 2:23 AM, Pieter Steenekamp wrote:
> I'm feeling encouraged by an early milestone in my journey to develop an agent-based model of macroeconomics—built from the bottom up—to help capture the complex and often surprising behaviors that emerge in real-world economies. The model is still very much a work in progress, but the goal is to gain some insight into the non-intuitive dynamics that shape economic systems.
> 
> In this initial prototype, agents—countries, businesses, and citizens—are generated randomly. While the simulation runs and produces output, the results are still mostly noise and not yet meaningful. Much refinement lies ahead.
> 
> The overall design is entirely my own—something today’s AI can't yet create from scratch—but I’m deeply grateful for the coding help provided by several free AI tools. Thanks to Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and Microsoft Copilot for being tireless assistants in getting the project to this point.
> 
> If you're curious about the code, it's available here:  https://github.com/pieterSteenekamp/bottom-up-macroeconomics
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