Standard regression conflates micro configurations that produce identical macro observables. Four classical examples — wealth concentration from random exchange, Schelling segregation, phantom traffic jams, and bank runs — show that genuine causal structure can be i…
Any market with heterogeneous agents, inventory dynamics, and competitive pricing produces emergent behavior that ABM is built to capture. Peanut butter turns out to be a surprisingly clean example.
Agent-based models and mean field games are often presented as alternatives. In practice, a significant share of real problems sit between them — and recognizing that grey zone is the first step toward modeling it correctly.