Minsky
Minsky is a visual tool for designing dynamic, monetary macroeconomic models. The first full release of the program, codenamed the “Aquinas” release, has been developed courtesy of a grant from INET. It is now available for download:
and
The Sourceforge development page, which will always have the latest version and of course the source code, is here:
https://sourceforge.net/p/minsky/home/Home/
We also have a help file which, though incomplete, provides an introduction to dynamic modeling as well as an explanation of the basic functions in Minsky.
The Kickstarter campaign raised $78,050, which after Kickstarter and Amazon fees plus the cost of the rewards to pledgers (and plus some donations outside of Kickstarter itself) gave us about A$65,000 to continue development. I am also applying for another INET Grant to add some serious additional functionality to Minsky, including the capacity to model input-output dynamics and a novel multidimensional data storage and display system.
Simple Banking model in Minsky: right click and choose “Save” to download model
Predator-Prey model in Minsky: right click and choose “Save” to download model
Discussion (14) ¬
Hello guys, kind of new here. Can anybody help me, how to download Minsky?
I’ve played around with QED and the first Minsky version from sourceforge, but I’m unable to get the recent version.
Thanks
Hello all,
Very interesting models. However, does anyone also get the “Error: No input for port 147″ when running the example model:
4MonetaryMinskyModelLessUnstableStart
Cheers
There’s a new version Charlotte:
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Minsky.1.0.D99-distrib.tar.gz
I’m also about to post a set of videos on how to use it, and a call for beta testers. Lovely to have your help on that already!
@Steve and Charlotte: I just downloaded both the version in the “Minsky for Windows link, and the one linked to in your Aug 9 post. They are both named Minsky 1.0 D099, and both produce the error mentioned by Charlotte.
Looking forward to user documentation, and also docs for the mky xml file format. I will be happy to be involved in beta testing.
@Graham & Charlotte: Its vital that these bug reports are entered inot Minsky tickets so that they get a chance to be looked at:
I did a quick search, but can’t see whether your particular issue has been reported or fixed, though.
As for beta testing, I should have a new build for beta testing next week, but you need to subscribe to the beta testers mailing list to get notification of new builds for testing.
Starting next month, I will be working on formalising the mky format as an XML DTD. This is important, as the existing format is impeding the program’s evolution. The descriptions will be checked into the source code repository, and posted to the Minsky wiki.
As for user documentation, the idea is for the software to be quite intuitive. Feedback on failings in this regard will be appreciated! More important documentation is more a pedagogical one, showing how to create economic and other models in Minsky. Steve’s videos are a good start.
I’m puzzled by the specification of stock variables, which are generated when column headings of the Godley Table are named. Stock variables don’t have input ports. How are stock levels replenished?
By making row entries Graham. Add an entry for loans from the bank to a borrower for example, or check some of the sample files.
A more recent version of Minsky is available from SourceForge. Currently, the released version is 1.D9, also known as “Aristotle”.
Dear Steve,
Any word on what’s happened to this? I mean… take my money already.
Additionally, will you put out an email when the campaign opens?
Thanks Kai,
At the moment I intend launching the campaign on Monday next week–January 28. I had planned to start earlier but–to put it mildly–I have had some distractions recently. I have some work to do on the campaign, which I hope to do in the mornings next week before attending the Australian Open during the afternoons and evenings this week. I should get them done in time for a Monday launch.
And I will definitely email, blog and twitter about it when it goes live!
Hey Steve you might want to update this post.
Hello, unfortunately I missed the Kickstarter campaign. Please advise how to contribute after the fact if possible.