MichaelMatulef on Nostr: Two features of economics set it apart from other sciences. First, the laws or ...
Two features of economics set it apart from other sciences. First, the laws or principles of economics cannot be established through laboratory experiment or empirical data, in the same way that a fact of the natural sciences can be demonstrated. Economic principles are a priori knowledge, which must be deduced theoretically and then deployed by the economist to interpret historical observations.
In practice, episodes in economic history are complex phenomena, involving multiple factors. As there are no truly controlled experiments in economics - especially in macroeconomics - it is impossible to isolate and test rival theories. This is why, for example, Austrians and Keynesians still argue about the Great Depression or more recently about the success or failure of the so-called Obama stimulus package of early 2009. In economics, rival theories cannot be judged the way they can be in the natural sciences. As Mises puts it, "The economist can never refute the economic cranks and quacks in the way in which the doctor refutes the medicine man and charlatan."
Bob Murphy
In practice, episodes in economic history are complex phenomena, involving multiple factors. As there are no truly controlled experiments in economics - especially in macroeconomics - it is impossible to isolate and test rival theories. This is why, for example, Austrians and Keynesians still argue about the Great Depression or more recently about the success or failure of the so-called Obama stimulus package of early 2009. In economics, rival theories cannot be judged the way they can be in the natural sciences. As Mises puts it, "The economist can never refute the economic cranks and quacks in the way in which the doctor refutes the medicine man and charlatan."
Bob Murphy