Welcome to the new version of European Tribune. It's just a new layout, so everything should work as before - please report bugs here.
Display:
Social science is not "science."  Rather it uses scientific methods to organize thinking, so that participants in its discourse can keep track of the veracity of claims, warrants, and reasoning being made. It is a way of improving the honesty of political discourse precisely because it allows a method for pointing out when people are lying or mistaken about things.  It does this through forcing arguments into falsifiable hypotheses that allow for evidence to be presented.

Even by this standard neoclassical economics is unfit for purpose, because it intentionally obfuscates when people are lying or mistaken about things, and systematically refuses to acknowledge when its falsifiable hypotheses are falsified.

Really existing neoclassical economics is a systematically dishonest enterprise.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Jul 13th, 2012 at 05:57:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
JakeS:

Really existing neoclassical economics is a systematically dishonest enterprise.

- Jake

word...

it is the legal waterboarding of whole societies.

The power of knowledge is in mortal combat with the knowledge of power. It really is that simple... That's the Edenic apple we are all munching on.

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Jul 13th, 2012 at 07:55:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't see any systematic attempt to obfuscate or refuse to acknowledge when hypotheses have been proven false.  The papers and the data to check them are all there for everyone to see after all.  

Rather, I do see an unfortunately high number of idiosyncratic cases where individual economists refuse to admit when their hypotheses have been proven lacking, but there is nothing in the methods themselves which cause this.  If there was a problem with the methods, it could be labeled systematic, but this is a case of individual faults, not system faults, and it is prevalent in all social sciences.  The heavy use of math in economics is what allows us to point it out more easily in economics, which is exactly how it should be and why math is so useful in economics.  

by santiago on Fri Jul 13th, 2012 at 12:31:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't see any systematic attempt to obfuscate or refuse to acknowledge when hypotheses have been proven false.

You can get equilibrium-based macroeconomic models published in purportedly respectable journals.

It has been a full century since the Walrasian approach to economics was conclusively demonstrated to be intellectually and practically sterile. Persisting in promulgating it is systemic obfuscation and refusal to acknowledge falsification.

Rather, I do see an unfortunately high number of idiosyncratic cases where individual economists refuse to admit when their hypotheses have been proven lacking, but there is nothing in the methods themselves which cause this. If there was a problem with the methods, it could be labeled systematic, but this is a case of individual faults, not system faults,

The fact that falsification of economic equilibrium, model-consistent expectations, Say's Postulate, loanable funds, long-run money neutrality (and indeed the whole of the neoclassical long run) is not assimilated by the peer review process is a systemic fault, and a systemic dishonesty.

Publishing things you know or should know are nonsense is not honest just because it is possible for outside observes to take the time to dismantle the farrago of lies. In fact, this particular dishonest tactic has a name: The Gish Gallop.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Jul 13th, 2012 at 04:41:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Top Diaries

Pentecost steam

by DoDo - May 23
39 comments

A Nomad's Life (A Farewell)

by Nomad - May 10
14 comments

Simple Solar Principles

by gmoke - May 17
2 comments

Rail News Blogging #24

by DoDo - May 12
11 comments

Ferguson hates on Keynes

by Migeru - May 6
100 comments

Occasional Series