Hacker News Reader

Comment by SantalBlush | Hacker News Reader

Basic Economics isn’t even required reading in an intro econ course. It probably has value for its alternative perspectives on a lot of economic concepts, but to say it’s “required reading for anyone who wants to claim they understand economic principles” is pretty demonstrably false.

View on HN

Perhaps, but is that really a telling statement about the book or a more telling statement about the current state of academic economics?

It’s a more telling statement about the book. “My book is too edgy for academia” is a worn out trope used by pseudo intellectuals. The real reason Sowell’s book is not required is because it does not involve the necessary rigor or mathematical methodology when introducing economic principles. If people want to pretend that’s elitist, so be it. Antivaxxers do the same thing.

Mathematical rigour doesn't necessarily translate to correctness. A mathematics-first approach encourages oversimplified assumptions. An example is the efficient markets hypothesis, which is the "spherical frictionless cow" of economics.

We don’t use mathematical models because they are correct. We use them because they are more concretely measurable, and thus falsifiable. Without them, it becomes too easy to make vague statements about economics then make ad hoc explanations for why you were right. This is what so-called economists like Sowell do.

>A mathematics-first approach encourages oversimplified assumptions.

Wrong. It makes the oversimplified assumptions more clearly identifiable, instead of concealing them in prose which is not measurable. This is why they are superior, because we can clearly identify why they are wrong, and by how much. This is how science and the positivist framework improve our knowledge.

Perhaps, but in physics the maths and experiments run very close.

In fields like economics it's easier to make a grandiose and "falsifiable" piece of math that is absolutely correct but doesn't actually reflect anything real.

Or more often reflects a tiny part of a first order effect.

Yet people get blinded because the math is right.

Nobody is "blinded because the math is right". You're using the same sort of argumentation that is used in all of the pseudo sciences.

If you know of a way to improve upon the existing methodologies, then show it to us, and be precise. Then you will have an argument that deserves to be engaged with. Ambiguous claims that the math "doesn't actually reflect anything real" sound intelligent, but really aren't saying much at all.

Id taxes are raised, will tax income automatically go up?

Reading through this book you’ll understand that higher taxes often mean less tax revenue, and vice versa.

Many people get stuck on zero sum game.

This isn’t a mathematicians book.

This is a book so people don’t think stare bonds are free money, etc.

As someone whose introduction to economics was Basic Economics, I don't think the statement reflects poorly on either the book or academia.

The book is a pithy, digestible introduction to a bunch of basic topics in economics. It is also lacking a lot of the detail and mathematical explanation of introductory university courses.

For example, I understood the basic concept of comparative advantage after listening to the book, but when I later revisited the topic using a textbook, the graphs and worked examples gave me a clearer picture and it was better related to adjacent concepts like marginal cost, the production-possibility frontier, etc.

I don't have the impression that academic economics as presented to undergraduates diverges greatly from the book, although it has been years since I heard it and my recollection is fuzzy.

how so ?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com