Mathematics Colloquium
JIONGMIN YONG
University of Central Florida
Title: Time-Inconsistent Problems -- A Mathematical Perspective
Date: Friday, April 19, 2019
Place and Time: Room 101, Love Building, 3:35-4:25 pm
Refreshments: Room 204, Love Building, 3:00 pm
Abstract. Do you regret your decisions made in the past? If your answer is "yes"", you are a normal person. If your answer is "no"", you are a very “rational” person. You may also ask yourself: Will you regret the decision you make today? If an optimal decision made today will stay optimal in the future, the problem under consideration is said to be time-consistent. Otherwise, the problem is said to be time-inconsistent. In reality, most (if not all) problems are time-inconsistent. There are two main reasons leading to the time-inconsistency: people’s subjective time-preferences and risk-preferences. In this talk, we will explain these in mathematical terms, and will present some results of time-consistent solutions to some interesting cases.