Tag Archives: Economics

The economic consequences of tax cuts for the rich Given the lack of consensus in existing empirical analyzes and the difficulties of making causal inferences from macro-level panel data analyzes, it remains an open empirical question how cutting taxes on the rich affects economic outcomes. We believe the question is best answered by looking at the effects of major tax cuts packages, as the story of taxing the rich in the advanced democracies over the past...

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Explanatory fictionalism in economics One of the limitations of economics is the restricted possibility to perform experiments, forcing it to mainly rely on observational studies for knowledge of real-world economies. But still — the idea of performing laboratory experiments holds a firm grip on our wish to discover (causal) relationships between economic ‘variables.’ If we only could isolate and manipulate variables in controlled environments, we would...

This paper argues for broadening the application of hysteresis to institutions, policy lock-in, psychology, identity, and economic ideas. Hysteresis is an element of historical processes, and the real world is historical. That explains why hysteresis is pervasive and important. Hysteresis should be a fundamental building block of political economy. Expanding its application in economics is […]

Does one have to use mathematics to be scientific? We have good reason to suppose that the scope of relevance of mathematics is very limited indeed in them social realm. For example, it can be demonstrated that not only the poor success rate of modern economics, but also the phenomenon of modern economists repeatedly making assumptions known to be wildly false, are due to mathematical methods being employed where they do not fit …The students’ ‘complaint’...

The History of Economic Thought .[embedded content] Being myself the author of seven books on the history of economic thought, yours truly can’t but applaud Beatrice Cherrier’s plaidoyer for the importance of studying the history of economic thought. In many doctrinal historical works, there is a tendency to read history in reverse. This often leads to only presenting the theories and thinkers that have anticipated or presented what constitutes today’s...

On ethics and economics Justice is an ambiguous concept. We use it daily and constantly. But what is justice, really? What should be considered just? How do we measure justice? Is justice the same as equality and impartiality? And is there only one form of justice, or do different notions of justice coexist? These are important questions to try to shed light on and answer. Otherwise, the concept of justice risks becoming just one of many empty and abstract...

In recent times, there has been a growing interest in institutionalist trends and research within the field of economics. Traditional explanations and analyses have seemed to have little or no value. Abstract and unrealistic theories have increasingly been replaced by historically grounded ones. Institutional and structural elements in the economy are highlighted, replacing overly short-term and model-based variables. It is, therefore, not surprising that economists have...

The ‘Nobel Prize’ in Economics is seriously flawed People have, throughout all times, tried to form an understanding of the economic contexts using economic theories. These theories both shape and are part of society and its history. In the past century, the development of economic theories has taken place at an increasingly rapid pace. Over the last fifty years, these theories have become more mathematical and abstract in their nature. This particularly...

Gunnar Myrdal’s ‘immanent critique’ of utility theory During the time period from 1925 to 1933 — when he still considered himself a ‘central-theoretician’ and a ‘pure economic theorist’ — Gunnar Myrdal wanted to apply to economic doctrines an ‘immanent method’ of criticism. His main interest was to criticize the received economic theory that had preserved structures of normative speculation built upon the concepts of utility and welfare. Many have tried to...