Jeffrey Scott Ray (SMC): Economics, Positive Science and the Quest for Predictive Performance. Felix Salmon on how economists get tripped up by statistics. In economics, you are what you model: An interview with Jonathan Schlefer, author of The Assumptions Economists Make (and more). Economics cannot claim to be absolutely objective — and this should be recognized by the profession to a greater degree. Have you ever thought economists were far more confident in their statements about the world than they had any right to be? Well, now there's proof. From The Browser, game theory is marketed as a system you can apply to any sphere of life, but what’s the reality? Ariel Rubinstein guides us through some classic studies; Neil Fligstein, author of The Architecture of Markets, says it’s important to understand social aspects of economic behaviour, particularly when times of crisis reveal shortcomings of traditional economic theory; and Simon Johnson on why economic history matters. It is extraordinary to sit here in the midst of the crisis and read the self-satisfied pronouncements of economists about the state of the discipline.
