F.M. Scherer; referring to General Equilibrium in "New Perspectives on
Economic Growth and Technological Innovation"
Is economics a discipline where math is consciously used for fictive
purposes [as in GE] or is it just because economists have worse luck at
finding/creating math that refers to real world events? Einstein remarked
that insofar as we are certain with our math, it does not refer to the real
world and insofar as it does refer it must remain uncertain. Is the math
and physics envy of economics the result of an existential anxiety with
regards to uncertainty and does this lead to the desire to make the world
conform to the mathematical model? And would that go part of the way in
explaining what many perceive as arrogance [like PK making fun of "Seattle
Man"]?
Ian
Albert Hirshman said somethin like that, but not quite: I
paraphrased it this
way in my Natural Instability book.
In the sciences, joint Nobel Prizes are given to collaborators, where in
economics, the prize is sometimes split between two persons who
have worked to
disprove the other's work (Hirschman 1981, p. 8).
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