Comments on: Cartoon: Economics

By: steve

steve — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:04:19 +0000

Another one I heard was that economists like to make strict rules about how the world works, marketers then do everything they can to screw it all up.

By: Matt Nolan

Matt Nolan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:47:48 +0000

There is still value in analysing the issues – definitely. But the value comes from understanding, and preparing for contingencies. Not from being told definitively what the future holds.

By: Matt Nolan

Matt Nolan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:47:03 +0000

@Michael

I’m not sure they will be more accurate persee …

I think the point is that economics is there to describe and discuss, and paint risks. The data is too incomplete, and our understanding of the functioning of the economic system too inexact, for us to be predictive in anything more than a probabilistic sense.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:44:41 +0000

Guess I’ll just go back to ringing the psychic hotline for my economic predictions.

By: Cartoon: Economics « acc3ss.info

Cartoon: Economics « acc3ss.info — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:35:57 +0000

[...] Continue reading here: Cartoon: Economics [...]

By: Matt Nolan

Matt Nolan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:07:23 +0000

@Peter Cresswell

It is hard for me to argue with something I completely agree with

I’d usually try, but I just can’t see how to at the moment.

By: Peter Cresswell

Peter Cresswell — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:27:19 +0000

Well that was no fun. To quote Monty Python, “I was hoping for a good argument.”

By: Matt Nolan

Matt Nolan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:53:39 +0000

@Peter Cresswell Indeed.

By: Peter Cresswell

Peter Cresswell — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:52:04 +0000

To be fair, why is it assumed that the job of economics is to predict the future to three significant figures — as if economics was some arithmetical sub-branch of necromancy?

Especially since it can’t be done?