The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics

By Daniel M. Hausman

Book Overview

Is economics a science? What distinguishes it from other sciences, both natural and social? Like many of the natural sciences, its theories are mathematically complex. Yet, like the social sciences, its 'laws' are largely everyday generalizations. Can such generalizations, which are far from universal truths, constitute a science? Does economics have a distinctive method? The first edition answered these and other questions about the scientific status of economics and its underlying methodology. In this fully updated new edition, Dan Hausman reflects on developments in both economics and the philosophy of economics over the last thirty years. It includes a new chapter on the methodology of macroeconomics, an updated discussion on the use of models, and new discussions causal inference and behavioural economics and their implications for theory appraisal. It is the perfect choice for a new generation of students studying the methodology of modern economics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1009320270
• ISBN13: 9781009320276
• Release Date: June 2023
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 552 Pages
• Weight: 1.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Good example of economic methodology

Hausman argues for a modified "Millian" economic methodology. Probably one of the most accurate accounts of how economists think they (and sometimes do) "do" economics. Covers a wide range of topics along the way, including applied topics in economics and issues directly relevant to the application of the philosophy of science to economics (e.g. the hopelessness of Popperian falsificationism).