July 10, 2026

YESU Friday Talks · Episode 3 with Munisa Djumanova

YESU Friday Talks · Episode 3 with Munisa DjumanovaFrom Tashkent to PhD at MIT: Building a Path into Research Munisa Djumanova started where many of you are now, at a university in Uzbekistan. She went on to Westminster International University in Tashkent, then to Johns Hopkins, and this fall she begins her PhD in Political Science at MIT, one of the strongest programs in the world. Along the way, she wrote a research paper that went on to win an award.On Friday, she's joining us to talk about how that path actually gets built, and the parts nobody explains until you're in it: → How to choose an advisor, and why it matters more than you think→ The hidden pitfalls in graduate admissions that trip people up→ What an RAship actually involves, and how to land one→ The research paper that earned her recognition, and what she learned writing it And what she'd tell anyone here weighing grad school, research, or a career in economics.This talk will be in Uzbek.Join us this Friday if you're interested in graduate school applications, funding, research life, and studying abroad. Date: Friday, July 10th Time: 5:00 PM Tashkent Location: New Uzbekistan University campus

June 8, 2026

2-week intensive Summer School -"Econ-omnom School"

Hungry for Knowledge? Come Take a Bite!Introducing “Econ-omnom School”-our 2-week intensive Summer School on the Basics of Economics, where we serve up the most essential econ topics, fresh and easy to digest! Who is this for?• Students who just enrolled in university• High school graduates with a huge passion for economicsIf you've ever wondered how the world economy works -pull up a chair, we saved you a seat!What's on the menu?We've carefully prepared the most essential economics topics. And the best part? You can feast with us online or offline -your choice!Key Dates — Don't Miss Out!• Registration closes -June 6th• Results & confirmations announced-June 7th• First day of school -June 8th Seats fill up fast -and unlike economics, this one actually IS a free lunch!Register via following link!

April 28, 2026

First Central Asia Conference on Sports Sciences

Sport as an Investment: Join us for The First Central Asia Sports Sciences Conference at New Uzbekistan University! Why does a modern stadium victory begin with a financial report and a research lab? We are excited to announce an upcoming event where we will explore sports not just as a game, but as a high-stakes global industry. Key Discussion Topics: ️ -ROI in Sport Science: How investing in athlete monitoring and biomechanics helps clubs save tens of millions of dollars by preventing injuries to "high-value assets." ️ -Commercializing Technology: Why innovations designed for Olympians are becoming the foundation of the multi-billion dollar wearable tech and HealthTech markets. ️ -Sports Infrastructure as an Economic Driver: How science-intensive sports projects pay off and stimulate private capital flow into regional economies. In today's world, science is the tool that makes sports predictable and therefore, commercially successful. Join us to discover how to transform physical achievements into economic performance. 28-29 April New Uzbekistan University Registration Limited seats available secure your spot in the economy of the future!

April 16, 2026

Guest Lecture: KPMG

How to Land Your First Internship at an International Company Ever wondered what it actually takes to get into a global company as an intern? April 16  1:00 PM UCA 2nd floor Hear it straight from the recruiters at KPMG Uzbekistan: Nilufar Khasanova — Senior Recruitment Specialist, People Team Pokiza Alloberganova — Recruitment Specialist, People Team They’ll share exactly what recruiters look for, how to stand out from hundreds of applicants — and the mistakes you absolutely want to avoid.

April 15, 2026

Information Session with Megha Dewli

Considering pursuing your studies in the UK, but unsure where to begin? Join us for an exclusive session with Megha Dewli, Regional Manager for Central Asia at the University of Reading (UK), who will provide comprehensive insights into academic opportunities and student life in the UK. During the session, you will gain first-hand information on: Degree programs and areas of study Admissions process and requirements Scholarship opportunities and funding options Student experience and life in the UK April 15 3:30 PM New Uzbekistan University, Atrium. This session is designed for prospective students seeking a clear and structured understanding of studying in the UK within an international academic environment. Places are limited

April 7, 2026

Guest lecture - Farkhad Babaev

From Career Trajectory to Deal Execution: Insights from Global Investment BankingThe Young Economists Society of Uzbekistan inviting to an exclusive guest lecture featuring a distinguished practitioner from the global financial industry:Farkhad BabaevVice President, Rothschild & Co, CIS countriesThis lecture offers a rare opportunity to engage with the practical realities of global finance, moving beyond theoretical frameworks toward the institutional, strategic, and transactional dimensions of investment banking.The session will provide a comprehensive and practice-oriented perspective, including:1. A reflective overview of career progression in high finance, highlighting key competencies, decision points, and professional pathways2. A case-based exploration of a real banking transaction, offering participants an applied understanding of deal mechanics, stakeholder dynamics, and execution strategyThe session is particularly valuable for:1. Students specializing in economics, finance, and management2. Individuals pursuing careers in investment banking, consulting, and financial advisory3. Participants seeking to bridge academic knowledge with industry practice.It aims to develop a more nuanced understanding of how financial theory is operationalized within real-world institutional settings.Event Details-Tuesday April 7th -UCA AtriumQ&A session will follow, enabling direct engagement with the speaker.Due to the limited number of seats, early registration is strongly encouraged: Register here 

March 30, 2026

Open Lecture: Bakhrom Abdukadirov

What does it really take to become a successful angel investor?Early-stage investing extends far beyond the provision of capital-it requires analytical judgment, timing, and the ability to identify high-potential ventures under significant uncertainty.But how do experienced investors evaluate such opportunities?What frameworks guide their decisions when information is limited?Join us for an Open Lecture with Bakhrom Abdukadirov- an active angel investor with a diverse portfolio across AI, FinTech, E-commerce, and other emerging sectors. The discussion will cover:- the fundamentals and mechanics of angel investing- key criteria used in evaluating early-stage startups- approaches to managing risk and uncertainty- practical insights drawn from real investment experience  This session offers a valuable opportunity to engage with the practical and strategic dimensions of early-stage investing, bridging theory and real-world application.

March 30, 2026

Workshop Conducted by: Bekhzod Khoshimov

Who really funds the future -and who gets left behind?In the modern economy, venture capital sits at the center of innovation, determining which ideas scale, which technologies dominate, and ultimately, how entire industries evolve. Yet, access to a deep, structured understanding of this field remains extremely limited.The Young Economists Society presents a highly selective, advanced workshop:“Who Funds the Future? The Role of Venture Capital in Innovation & Growth”, conducted by Bekhzod Khoshimov.This program is designed as a rigorous, small-group learning experience, going beyond surface-level discussions to uncover the economic logic, strategic thinking, and decision-making frameworks used in real-world venture capital.Participants will engage with:1. Investment decision-making under uncertainty and asymmetric information2. Startup valuation and expected return dynamics the role of venture capital in innovation cycles and market creation3. Real-world case studies bridging theory and practiceThis is a rare opportunity to access insights typically discussed within professional and academic circles, delivered in a structured and interactive format.Admission is intentionally restricted:Limited seats to ensure depth of discussion and quality of engagementExclusive access for YESU members onlyCertificates of completion awarded to participants who successfully complete the programRegistration only through website: https://yesu.uz/en/eventParticipation in this workshop signals both academic curiosity and a serious interest in understanding how modern economies are built.

March 28, 2026

Diamond Hands or Paper Hands? Behavioral Finance, Market Dynamics, and the Economics of Holding and Selling

   The expressions “diamond hands” and “paper hands” originated in online investor communities as informal labels for persistent holding and early selling behavior under market stress. Despite their colloquial nature, these terms capture systematic and theoretically grounded patterns of decision-making that have long been studied in economics and finance. This article situates these behaviors within the broader intellectual framework of expected utility theory, prospect theory, behavioral finance, narrative economics, social identity, and market microstructure. By doing so, it demonstrates that these memes reveal fundamental mechanisms governing asset price dynamics, volatility, and welfare in modern financial markets.1. IntroductionIn standard economic models, investors are assumed to behave rationally: they process information efficiently, update beliefs according to Bayes’ rule, and choose portfolios that maximize expected utility. Within this framework, asset prices reflect fundamentals such as expected cash flows and risk, and deviations from intrinsic value are short-lived. However, decades of empirical research show that real-world investors often deviate from these assumptions. They overreact to short-term fluctuations, underreact to long-term information, and allow emotions and social pressures to shape their decisions.With the rise of digital trading platforms and social media, these behavioral patterns have become publicly visible and linguistically codified. The terms diamond hands and paper hands summarize two contrasting reactions to volatility: refusal to sell versus rapid liquidation. While these expressions emerged as internet slang, they serve as intuitive representations of deeper economic forces.Understanding these behaviors is not merely of cultural interest. It is crucial for explaining bubbles, crashes, excessive volatility, and the limits of market efficiency in environments dominated by retail participation and narrative-driven trading.2. Rational Benchmark: Expected Utility and Efficient MarketsThe classical benchmark for investor behavior is expected utility maximization. Investors choose portfolios to maximize the expected discounted value of utility derived from future wealth. In equilibrium, asset prices incorporate all available information, as described by the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). Under this paradigm, price movements are primarily responses to new fundamental information, and persistent mispricing should be arbitraged away.If markets operated strictly according to this benchmark, systematic patterns such as holding losing assets for too long or selling out of fear would not occur. Persistent “diamond hands” behavior would be rational only if fundamentals remained unchanged and the investor’s risk tolerance allowed for continued exposure. Likewise, “paper hands” behavior would be rational only if new information reduced expected returns or increased risk.The empirical prevalence of these behaviors, however, indicates that preferences and beliefs deviate from this benchmark in predictable ways.3. Prospect Theory and Reference DependenceProspect Theory introduced two crucial departures from expected utility theory: reference dependence and loss aversion. Individuals evaluate outcomes relative to a reference point, often the purchase price of an asset, rather than in absolute terms. Moreover, the disutility of losses is larger than the utility of equivalent gains.This framework explains why price declines generate disproportionately strong reactions. When an asset falls below the reference point, investors experience psychological loss even if their long-term wealth remains adequate. Selling then becomes a method of minimizing emotional pain rather than maximizing expected wealth.At the same time, Prospect Theory predicts risk-seeking behavior in the domain of losses. Investors prefer a gamble that might eliminate a loss to a certain smaller loss. This implies that holding a losing asset can be psychologically preferable to selling, because holding preserves the chance of recovery. Thus, both paper hands and diamond hands emerge naturally from the same utility structure.4. Disposition Effect, Regret, and Self-ImageThe disposition effect formalizes the tendency to sell winning assets too early and hold losing assets too long. This pattern has been observed in individual trading accounts across different markets and periods.The economic intuition behind this phenomenon lies in regret avoidance and self-image preservation. Realizing a loss produces not only financial cost but also emotional discomfort, because it signals that a prior decision was wrong. Holding a losing asset delays this acknowledgment and sustains hope that the loss is temporary.In contrast, selling a winning asset quickly allows the investor to experience pride and avoid the risk that gains will vanish. Thus, both early selling and persistent holding are shaped by emotional responses rather than by optimal portfolio rebalancing.5. Sunk Costs, Anchoring, and Break-Even BehaviorStandard economic theory treats sunk costs as irrelevant for future decisions. However, investors frequently condition their actions on past expenditures. The purchase price becomes a salient anchor, and decisions are framed in terms of “getting back to zero.”This creates break-even behavior: investors refuse to sell below the purchase price even when future prospects deteriorate. Such anchoring distorts decision-making by shifting attention from expected future returns to past outcomes, reinforcing diamond hands behavior during downturns.6. Belief Formation, Overconfidence, and DisagreementMarkets are populated by investors with heterogeneous beliefs about future asset values. Diamond hands behavior is often associated with optimistic expectations or overconfidence in private information. Paper hands behavior reflects pessimistic updating or increased perceived risk.Disagreement among investors increases trading volume and volatility. Overconfident investors are less responsive to adverse signals, while risk-averse investors react more strongly to negative price movements. This divergence in reactions contributes to amplified price dynamics.7. Narratives, Attention, and Information ProcessingNarrative economics emphasizes that economic behavior is shaped by stories that spread socially. In financial markets, narratives provide simplified explanations of complex events and coordinate expectations. Phrases such as “hold the line” or “short squeeze” transform investment decisions into moral or collective acts.Empirical research also shows that investors disproportionately buy assets that attract attention, such as those heavily discussed in the media or experiencing unusual trading volume. Visibility itself generates demand, independent of changes in fundamentals. In such an environment, diamond hands can emerge as a narrative identity rather than a calculated financial strategy.8. Herd Behavior and Informational CascadesWhen uncertainty is high, individuals infer information from others’ actions. This generates herd behavior. Early trades influence later ones, creating informational cascades in which private signals are ignored.If initial investors sell, others interpret this as evidence of negative information and sell as well, producing paper hands cascades. If initial investors hold and promote confidence, others follow, producing diamond hands cascades. These processes lead to self-reinforcing price movements disconnected from fundamentals.9. Identity and Social UtilityIdentity-based utility extends the traditional notion of preferences by incorporating social belonging. In online trading communities, holding an asset can signal loyalty, resistance, or group membership. Selling can be interpreted as betrayal.When identity enters the utility function, financial decisions cannot be evaluated solely by monetary payoffs. An investor may rationally choose to hold a losing position if the social benefits of belonging outweigh the expected financial loss. This transforms holding from a portfolio choice into a symbolic act.10. Market Microstructure and Forced LiquidationNot all selling reflects fear. Institutional constraints such as margin requirements, stop-loss rules, and risk limits generate forced liquidation. When prices fall, margin calls compel investors to sell, which further reduces prices and liquidity. This feedback loop amplifies downturns and can convert small shocks into large crashes.Conversely, diamond hands behavior is more feasible for investors without leverage, with long horizons and no liquidity needs. Thus, the capacity to hold is unevenly distributed across market participants.11. Portfolio Theory and Risk ManagementModern portfolio theory emphasizes diversification and rebalancing. From this perspective, neither rigid holding nor panic selling is optimal. Rational strategies require predefined rules regarding position size, acceptable drawdowns, and reallocation in response to new information.Diamond hands and paper hands behavior often reflects the absence of such ex ante rules. Decisions are made reactively, under emotional stress, rather than systematically.12. Welfare and Market StabilityAt the individual level, diamond hands increases exposure to tail risk and may lead to catastrophic losses when bubbles burst. Paper hands reduces exposure to extreme losses but increases the likelihood of regret and missed opportunities.At the market level, both behaviors amplify volatility. Narrative-driven holding weakens price discovery, while panic selling accelerates crashes. These dynamics contribute to deviations from fundamental values and to instability in retail-dominated markets.Understanding these behaviors is important for investor education and financial regulation. Transparent risk disclosures, limits on leverage, and improved financial literacy can reduce the harmful effects of behavioral biases. Recognizing the role of narratives and social identity can help regulators and educators design communication strategies that counter panic and misinformation.14. ConclusionDiamond hands and paper hands are modern linguistic expressions of long-standing economic problems: how individuals respond to uncertainty, losses, and social influence. They reveal that markets are not purely informational mechanisms but social systems shaped by fear, hope, identity, and institutional constraints.The true economic lesson is not to choose between holding and selling, but to understand the psychological and structural forces that make these choices appear compelling. Only by recognizing these forces can investors and policymakers better interpret bubbles, crashes, and the growing role of narratives in financial markets. READING AND REFERENCES: Akerlof, G.A. and Kranton, R.E. (2000) ‘Economics and identity’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), pp. 715–753. Available at:https://sites.duke.edu/rachelkranton/files/2016/12/economicsandidentity-qje-akerlof-and-kranton.pdf Banerjee, A.V. (1992) ‘A simple model of herd behavior’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107(3), pp. 797–817. Available at:https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/publications/banerjee92herd.pdf Barber, B.M. and Odean, T. (2008) ‘All that glitters: The effect of attention and news on the buying behavior of individual and institutional investors’, Review of Financial Studies, 21(2), pp. 785–818. Available at:https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/papers%20current%20versions/allthatglitters_rfs_2008.pdf Bikhchandani, S., Hirshleifer, D. and Welch, I. (1992) ‘A theory of fads, fashion, custom, and cultural change as informational cascades’, Journal of Political Economy, 100(5), pp. 992–1026. Available at:https://fbaum.unc.edu/teaching/articles/Bikhchandani_etal_1992_JPE.pdf Brunnermeier, M.K. and Pedersen, L.H. (2009) ‘Market and funding liquidity’, Review of Financial Studies, 22(6), pp. 2201–2238. Available at:https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w12939/w12939.pdf Fama, E.F. (1970) ‘Efficient capital markets: A review of theory and empirical work’, Journal of Finance, 25(2), pp. 383–417. Available at:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2325486 Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1979) ‘Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk’, Econometrica, 47(2), pp. 263–291. Available at:https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Behavioral_Decision_Theory/Kahneman_Tversky_1979_Prospect_theory.pdf Kyle, A.S. (1985) ‘Continuous auctions and insider trading’, Econometrica, 53(6), pp. 1315–1335. Available at:https://people.duke.edu/~qc2/BA532/1985%20EMA%20Kyle.pdf Odean, T. (1998) ‘Are investors reluctant to realize their losses?’, Journal of Finance, 53(5), pp. 1775–1798. Available at:https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/papers%20current%20versions/areinvestorsreluctant.pdf Shefrin, H. and Statman, M. (1985) ‘The disposition to sell winners too early and ride losers too long: Theory and evidence’, Journal of Finance, 40(3), pp. 777–790. Available at:https://people.bath.ac.uk/mnsrf/Teaching%202011/Shefrin-Statman-85.pdf Shiller, R.J. (2017) ‘Narrative economics’, American Economic Review, 107(4), pp. 967–1004. Available at:https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.107.4.967 Alternative version available at: https://paulgp.com/speeches/shiller_2017_aea.pdfTversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1992) ‘Advances in prospect theory: Cumulative representation of uncertainty’, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 5(4), pp. 297–323. Available at:https://cemi.ehess.fr/docannexe/file/2780/tversjy_kahneman_advances.pdf