Economics Rules. The
Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science by Dani Rodrik is a rather good
middle of the road account of both the promise and shortcomings of
Economics. Rodrik is quick to point out
that Economics will never have the predictive power of certain natural
sciences. Social forces are too varied
and layered. Instead, Economics deals
with a variety of models (another name for theories) of how social/economic forces
work.
Unlike physics, which has, more or less, a central theory of
how the universe works, Economics will always be a pluralistic pursuit. One model will never suit all areas of the
economy. So, an economist must pick a
model that suits a particular problem. Rodrik
admits that this is more art than science, and involves a great deal of
intuition. This, Rodrik explains, is not
taught to graduate students, and is largely learned by economists early in
their career by trial and error or informal professional guidance.
Overall, this is an informative book. Rodrik does go into the weeds sometimes,
getting off target, getting a bit too technical at times. Still, Rodrik makes great points about the
field. He provides a view of Economics
that is not dogmatic, while also not overly cynical either.
No comments:
Post a Comment