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Axioms — things to be suspicious of

Summary:
From Lars Syll To me, the crucial difference between modelling in physics and in economics lies in how the fields treat the relative role of concepts, equations and empirical data … An economist once told me, to my bewilderment: “These concepts are so strong that they supersede any empirical observation” … Physicists, on the other hand, have learned to be suspicious of axioms. If empirical observation is incompatible with a model, the model must be trashed or amended, even if it is conceptually beautiful or mathematically convenient. Jean-Philippe Bouchaud

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from Lars Syll

Axioms — things to be suspicious ofTo me, the crucial difference between modelling in physics and in economics lies in how the fields treat the relative role of concepts, equations and empirical data …

An economist once told me, to my bewilderment: “These concepts are so strong that they supersede any empirical observation” …

Physicists, on the other hand, have learned to be suspicious of axioms. If empirical observation is incompatible with a model, the model must be trashed or amended, even if it is conceptually beautiful or mathematically convenient.

Jean-Philippe Bouchaud

Lars Pålsson Syll
Professor at Malmö University. Primary research interest - the philosophy, history and methodology of economics.

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