Comments on: Economics as the Solution to Cognitive Dissonance http://dmiessler.com/blog/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance in search of intervals Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:10:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-RC1 hourly 1 By: AmyVanDonsel.com - Blog Archive » Interesting Bits for Tuesday October 9 http://dmiessler.com/blog/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance/comment-page-1#comment-86768 AmyVanDonsel.com - Blog Archive » Interesting Bits for Tuesday October 9 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:29:50 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blogarchive/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance#comment-86768 <p>[...] Speaking of appreciating those people who have an economics background, as in the case of my former boss whom I mentioned above, I’ve been reading a lot of Daniel Miessler’s excellent blog lately, and he brings this up in his post “Economics as the Solution Cognitive Dissonance. [...]</p> [...] Speaking of appreciating those people who have an economics background, as in the case of my former boss whom I mentioned above, I’ve been reading a lot of Daniel Miessler’s excellent blog lately, and he brings this up in his post “Economics as the Solution Cognitive Dissonance. [...]

]]> By: Steven G. Harms http://dmiessler.com/blog/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance/comment-page-1#comment-85395 Steven G. Harms Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:04:47 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blogarchive/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance#comment-85395 <p>Here's a thought about economics as a science.</p> <p>When was the last time that you heard an economist say " we were wrong on that point ".</p> <p>:: crickets ::</p> <p>There's always some "unforeseen boundary condition" or "except well this one time" that comes up so very, very often in economist's explanations of why their theory's predictive power was simply wrong. </p> <p>Unlike science where the wrong thing gets disowned from time to time, economics seems to behave more like a religion ( and thus, perhaps, the immunity to cognitive dissonance ), when what's predicted fails there's always an explanation.</p> <p>Any study where your theory lacks predictive power that is routinely incorrect should not dance under the name "science". Nota bene, few schools include economics in the college of natural science - for this reason?</p> Here’s a thought about economics as a science.

When was the last time that you heard an economist say ” we were wrong on that point “.

:: crickets ::

There’s always some “unforeseen boundary condition” or “except well this one time” that comes up so very, very often in economist’s explanations of why their theory’s predictive power was simply wrong.

Unlike science where the wrong thing gets disowned from time to time, economics seems to behave more like a religion ( and thus, perhaps, the immunity to cognitive dissonance ), when what’s predicted fails there’s always an explanation.

Any study where your theory lacks predictive power that is routinely incorrect should not dance under the name “science”. Nota bene, few schools include economics in the college of natural science - for this reason?

]]> By: Jon Robinson http://dmiessler.com/blog/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance/comment-page-1#comment-85286 Jon Robinson Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:37:55 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blogarchive/economics-as-the-solution-to-cognitive-dissonance#comment-85286 <p>I would have to agree with that, particularly if you are talking about Austrian economics. Some of the brands of economics use "science" to endorse or justify certain government policies and regulations. The Austrians start from this axiom that humans act by using means to obtain ends. Their ends are individualistic and self-centered. The Austrians do not claim to know unrevealed individual preferences nor do they deduce the need for government interventionism in the market. Acting man is able to create working arrangements with other acting men that benefit all involved.</p> I would have to agree with that, particularly if you are talking about Austrian economics. Some of the brands of economics use “science” to endorse or justify certain government policies and regulations. The Austrians start from this axiom that humans act by using means to obtain ends. Their ends are individualistic and self-centered. The Austrians do not claim to know unrevealed individual preferences nor do they deduce the need for government interventionism in the market. Acting man is able to create working arrangements with other acting men that benefit all involved.

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