by 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
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.