by Why economics is in such a mess .[embedded content] Modern economics has become increasingly irrelevant to the understanding of the real world. In his seminal book Economics and Reality (1997), Tony Lawson traced this irrelevance to the failure of economists to match their deductive-axiomatic methods with their subject. The critique is — sad to say — as relevant today as it was twenty-five years ago. It is still a fact that within mainstream economics internal validity is almost everything and external validity next to nothing. Why anyone should be interested in that kinds of theories and models is beyond imagination. As long as mainstream economists do not come up with any export licenses for their theories and models to the real world in which we live,
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Why economics is in such a mess
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Modern economics has become increasingly irrelevant to the understanding of the real world. In his seminal book Economics and Reality (1997), Tony Lawson traced this irrelevance to the failure of economists to match their deductive-axiomatic methods with their subject.
The critique is — sad to say — as relevant today as it was twenty-five years ago.
It is still a fact that within mainstream economics internal validity is almost everything and external validity next to nothing. Why anyone should be interested in that kinds of theories and models is beyond imagination. As long as mainstream economists do not come up with any export licenses for their theories and models to the real world in which we live, they really should not be surprised if people say that this is not science!
In pure mathematics and logic, we do not have to worry about external validity. But economics is not pure mathematics or logic. It’s about society. The real world.
Economics and Reality was a great inspiration to yours truly twenty-five years ago. It still is.