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The problem with focusing on big questions in economics is that it is very difficult to produce convincing evidence. Humanity is complicated and it is impossibl

by Gimpei 7y ago

The problem with focusing on big questions in economics is that it is very difficult to produce convincing evidence. Humanity is complicated and it is impossible to control for unobservables in cross country studies. The Nobel winners see this and decided to focus on smaller, provable questions instead. I'm not saying RCTs are perfect, but they are much better than a lot of the snake oil that still comes out of the discipline. We need more of them, not less.

raxxorrax 7y ago
Wholeheartedly agree. I think the discipline in general has something to prove. For economists, it shouldn't be an alien concept to actually produce results and hard data. These particular people have done their part and more. But I feel this price is used to absolve the whole industry. I already hear the open borders arguments again. No, if an underdeveloped nations completely opens up for trade, its domestic economy will get destroyed. And China should be the falsification of that theory anyway. People lift themselves from poverty. Not by easily bored economists from the developed world and their insights. So don't let them experiment with your society too much. Why is immigration good for developed countries? Maybe because you simply catch motivated individuals that have the means to migrate? Think this comment sounds a bit hostile to the discipline? I think you would be correct.