I'm pretty sure I don't agree. Many of the fundamental assumptions in economics aren't just first-order approximations; they're about tractability. You can leav

I'm pretty sure I don't agree. Many of the fundamental assumptions in economics aren't just first-order approximations; they're about tractability. You can leave out friction and get reliable ballpark figures, but when you assume monotonicity, you're liable to end up wildly off base sooner or later. That's what I consider the main problem of economics. To use the gp's expression, they have physics envy when they need to be demanding statistics and psychology. The problem area is difficult and overpopulated, and what's worse, worth money. That means that the most apt people do business for themselves instead of suggesting on the business of others. Much of economics is useful, but little is reliable. As much as it pains me to say this, I believe we could do with more (quiet) focus on economic policies - just not from the math people, but from the social studies people.