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Article: Economist class: practitioners of the 'dismal science' should stop sneering at their academic cousins in the social sciences--and start learning from them.(MISSING LINKS)
- Article from:
- Foreign Policy
- Article date:
- March 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1849, the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle labeled economics the "dismal science." Two centuries later, contemporary practitioners still study dismal choices: Higher prices or fewer jobs? Spend or save? They have also become a smug lot.
Economists take pride in the sophisticated statistical techniques on which they rely to analyze phenomena such as growth, inflation, unemployment, trade, and even the long-term effects of abortion on crime rates. Many are convinced that their methods are more rigorous than those of all other social sciences and dismiss research that does not rest on quantitative methods as little more than "storytelling" or, worse, "glorified ...