Policy Recommendations as Spurious Predictions
Toward a Theory of Economists' Ignorance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6252379 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam Fforde (0000-0001-6088-8310, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 105-115 |
| Publication date | 2011-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0891-3811 • E-ISSN: 1933-8007 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08913811.2011.574473 |
| OpenAlex | W1998053250 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Lao Tzu and Marx together provide the basis of an epistemology based on ignorance—not on knowledge. The failure of an epistemology based on knowledge is shown by the internal inconsistencies afflicting mainstream economics: Economic theory predicts certain empirical phenomena but these fail to reveal themselves. In fact, the strongest research finding in development economics is that there are almost no robust empirical relationships between an implemented policy and its desired outcomes in the real world. A theory of ignorance can highlight many economic contradictions—and may even prove useful in understanding autistics
Applied economics · Economic methodology · Economics · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Epistemology · Ignorance · Mainstream · Mainstream economics · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Positive economics · Spurious relationship · Computer Science · Economic theories and models · Economic Theory and Policy · Law · Monetary Policy and Economic Impact · Philosophy
Policy
Development Beyond Neoliberalism?
The Use of Knowledge in Society
The Lost Decades
Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth1
Lost Modernities
The Theological Origins of Modernity
What Do We Know About Economic Growth? Or, Why Don't We Know Very Much
The ghost of financing gap
Responses to the ‘policy science’ problem
The theological origins of modernity
| Highly cited | No |
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