Economics and Its Critics

There is much to criticize in economics nowadays – not least that the profession focuses far too little on political issues and far too much on beating students to death with mathematics. But much current criticism of economics is based on misunderstanding and ignorance.

MUNICH – There is much to criticize in economics nowadays. For example, the profession focuses far too little on political issues and far too much on beating students to death with mathematics. But much current criticism of the profession is based on misunderstanding and ignorance.

Consider Adam Smith’s concept of the “invisible hand,” which implies that a market equilibrium is efficient if perfect competition prevails and well-defined property rights exist. Contrary to what many critics suppose, mainstream economists do not assume that these ideal conditions are always present. On the contrary, economists tend to use these conditions as a benchmark for analyzing market failures. Like sniffer dogs, they search the economy for such defects and ponder how they can be corrected through intelligent state intervention.

In this respect, economists are like doctors, who have to know what a healthy body looks like before they can diagnose disease and prescribe treatment. A good doctor does not intervene arbitrarily in the body’s processes, but only in cases where there is objective proof of a disease and an effective treatment can be prescribed.

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