Why Economics Should Be a Modest and Reasonable Science

Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira ()

Journal of Economic Issues, 2012, vol. 46, issue 2, 291-302

Abstract: Unlike the methodological sciences, such as mathematics and decision theory, which use the hypothetical-deductive method and may be fully expressed in complex mathematical models because their only truth criterion is logical consistency; the substantive sciences that have as their truth criterion the correspondence to reality, adopt an empirical-deductive method, and are supposed to generalize from often unreliable regularities and tendencies. Given this assumption, it is very difficult for economists to predict economic behavior, particularly major financial crises.

Date: 2012
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Working Paper: Why economics should be a modest and reasonable science (2012)
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DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624460204

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