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DR@W Forum: Amrish Patel (University of Gothenburg)
Location: Wolfson Research Exchange Seminar Room 1
"Causal Overdetermination and Blame"
If two banks short-sell a stock the market crashes. Four banks simultaneously short-sell, each believing that all others will do so too. Who is blame for the crash? Responsibility attribution when there are multiple sufficient causes for an outcome is no doubt a thorny issue.
I motivate why it is important economists grapple with this topic and review insights from cognate disciplines (philosophy, artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology) that may help. Finally, I sketch some very preliminary research ideas to fuel discussion.