I want to caution against dismissing the entire field of economics as if there’s simply nothing of value there at all.
It’s absolutely true that mainstream economics has a lot of problems right now. There’s a serious and endemic issue with “frictionless cows on an infinite plane”; that is, economists building models that have not been tested against reality and then acting as if those models can predict reality.
But economics is a genuinely important field of study that offers invaluable insights about how the world really works. If we want to make evidence based changes to address the most fundamental injustices in our society, we need the kind of insights that economics can provide. We just need those insights to come in forms that are useful.
If you want to a really good intro to what economics should be, by someone who has a great understanding of all of the problems with what economics too often is, I’d highly recommend the channel Unlearning Economics: https://www.youtube.com/@unlearningeconomics9021. He does a great job of demystifying the field while also criticizing it and applying it.
There’s important work out there being done by economists who are working to challenge traditional assumptions and push the field into being something genuinely valuable and useful. Don’t throw their contributions out with the bathwater.
I want to caution against dismissing the entire field of economics as if there’s simply nothing of value there at all.
It’s absolutely true that mainstream economics has a lot of problems right now. There’s a serious and endemic issue with “frictionless cows on an infinite plane”; that is, economists building models that have not been tested against reality and then acting as if those models can predict reality.
But economics is a genuinely important field of study that offers invaluable insights about how the world really works. If we want to make evidence based changes to address the most fundamental injustices in our society, we need the kind of insights that economics can provide. We just need those insights to come in forms that are useful.
If you want to a really good intro to what economics should be, by someone who has a great understanding of all of the problems with what economics too often is, I’d highly recommend the channel Unlearning Economics: https://www.youtube.com/@unlearningeconomics9021. He does a great job of demystifying the field while also criticizing it and applying it.
There’s important work out there being done by economists who are working to challenge traditional assumptions and push the field into being something genuinely valuable and useful. Don’t throw their contributions out with the bathwater.