From what we have been told, what makes science science is the ability to perform controlled experiments to verify or reject hypotheses. However due to the nature of economics and the fact that there are far too many factors like sociology and psychology to control for, it’s impossible to do controlled experiments in the economy. Why is it considered a branch of science?
In: 10
There are actually a lot of parts of economics which is more numerical based. For example, inflation and unemployment are numbers that can be controlled in a contained area by different policies.
For example, the law of supply and demand is proven in most experiments, and companies do this all the time. Reduce the price of a good, such as during a sale, and the quantity increases. Adjust the price in different regions, and the quantity sold changes.
Real economics is mostly a numerical science, but only works on a scale large enough to reduce randomness. So like towns with 1000 people, not a local store where the owner has direct relationships with everyone.
edit: BA economics, berkeley, MS chemical engineer, works at PGE managing power by controlling prices.
Latest Answers