Comments on: It’s the Economy, Stupid: But Why So Stupid? http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/05/it%e2%80%99s-the-economy-stupid-but-why-so-stupid/ Informed reflection on the events of the day Wed, 15 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.23 By: Michael Corey http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/05/it%e2%80%99s-the-economy-stupid-but-why-so-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-25269 Fri, 04 May 2012 15:58:00 +0000 http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/?p=13140#comment-25269 Disagreements about theories can be good. That is an element in how scientific theories and paradigms change. Keynesian economics is a theoretical approach, and there is a paradigm associated it. When outcomes occur that are consistent with a theory, the results are seen as acceptable or verified. Based on these outcomes, there is no need to discard or amend the theory. When outcomes occur which are inconsistent with a theory, they are seen as negative or falsified. This also falsifies the theory from which they have been derived. Theories per se are not proven. There are some economic outcomes which may not be explainable by Keynesian theory, or may be better explained by other theories. If enough of these things occur, the theory is challenged. This set of circumstances may contribute to a paradigm shift. I’m not at all surprised that there are disagreements today about the usefulness of some policy choices driven by Keynesian economic theory. It is by examining these situations closely that we help advance our understanding.

]]> By: Felipe Pait http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/05/it%e2%80%99s-the-economy-stupid-but-why-so-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-25267 Fri, 04 May 2012 14:01:00 +0000 http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/?p=13140#comment-25267 Maybe we college professors aren’t doing such a great job teaching. I suppose I could say “them econ professors” but it would’t be fair. Microeconomics is intuitively right, but macroeconomics is counter-intuitive, in the same way that much of physics is counter-intuitive. How many people leave college physics courses completely immune to the idea that if you stop exerting a force on a car it will stop moving? This is true in the real world and completely wrong according to Newtonian physics.

The purpose of science is to overthrow common sense. But we still need common sense to use science. Not many people understand Ricardo’s comparative advantages, how would they understand Keynes’ explanation of how private savings can create a recession?

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