Quotation: economic theory and reality
November 19, 2011 9:01 AM Subscribe
"When economic theory collides with reality, prefer economic theory". Who said this, and what exactly did he say?
Response by poster: Ah, no. I should have expanded. Economic theory is often contradicted by reality. As such, references to both appear regularly in academic papers.
However, there is a famous edict that one of the seminal neoclassical economists coined specifically instructing economists to reject reality if it clashes with theory. With all the scrutiny on how deranged neoclassical economics is, it is one of the items of evidence in the case against it, and I'm looking for ammunition. But I can't find it.
And it's not Friedman's rejection of reality in the formulation of hypothesis, either.
posted by falcon at 6:07 AM on November 20, 2011
However, there is a famous edict that one of the seminal neoclassical economists coined specifically instructing economists to reject reality if it clashes with theory. With all the scrutiny on how deranged neoclassical economics is, it is one of the items of evidence in the case against it, and I'm looking for ammunition. But I can't find it.
And it's not Friedman's rejection of reality in the formulation of hypothesis, either.
posted by falcon at 6:07 AM on November 20, 2011
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posted by dfriedman at 9:05 AM on November 19, 2011