An embarrassing lack of ambition
Paul Krugman, who I normally have a lot of respect for, writes:
The figure above plots ... It’s not a perfect fit — this is economics, not physics,...(Emphasis mine.) Honestly, what other academic discipline could dismiss the inaccuracy of a theory with an airy `this is not physics?' Economists wonder why many people think that they are little better than cultists. Krugman's piece displays a large part of the reason: economists can't predict much and they are not even embarrassed by that.
Labels: Economic Theory
posted by David Murphy at 09:28
2 Comments:
On days like these, I reconsider my plans for a PhD in the dismal science.
Awww, I'm sorry, I can be a touch too sarcastic at times. Whatever you do, though, I think that having a sense of how well you are doing it is important. And I'd have a lot more respect for the dismal science if it acknowledged that it might have had its Ptolemy, but it hasn't had its Newton yet, let alone Einstein.
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