Economics/Tutorials
Some footnotes for economists
Economics as a science
Whether economics is a science is a question that would appear to a layman to economics to be esoteric and semantic, but it is of considerable interest to its professionals. Many economic theorems do not satisfy Karl Popper’s criterion that, for a proposition to be considered scientific, it must be falsifiable [1]. The economic theory of utility, for example, yields tools that can be used in economic analysis rather than testable propositions. Such tools can be used in the scientific analysis of economic activity, just as Euclid’s theorems can be used in the scientific analysis of physical phenomena. To the extent that the analysis yields testable propositions, it can nevertheless be considered scientific.
The first claim that economics is a science has been attributed to John Stuart Mill, [2] - a claim that was later challenged by Lionel Robbins [3] and critically examined by Paul Samuelson [4]
References
- ↑ Karl Popper The Logic of Scientific Discovery Routledge 1959
- ↑ John Stuart Mill "On the Definition of Political Economy and the Method of Investigation Proper To It" in Unsettled Questions of Political Economy Essay 5 p86 Baloch Books Kitchener 2000
- ↑ Lionel Robbins An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science Macmillan 1935
- ↑ Paul Samuelson Foundations of Economic Analysis Harvard University Press 1947