LEADER 04096nam 2200601Ia 450 001 9910465506403321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-06552-2 010 $a0-674-06883-1 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674065529 035 $a(CKB)2560000000082516 035 $a(OCoLC)794004265 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10568033 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000654436 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11435540 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000654436 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10660745 035 $a(PQKB)11454692 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3301089 035 $a(DE-B1597)178217 035 $a(OCoLC)816331434 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674065529 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3301089 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10568033 035 $a(EXLCZ)992560000000082516 100 $a20111012d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe assumptions economists make$b[electronic resource] /$fJonathan Schlefer 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cBelknap Press of Harvard University Press$d2012 215 $a1 online resource (376 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-05226-9 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p.[317]-330) and index. 327 $t Frontmatter -- $tContents -- $tA Personal Note -- $tOne. The Metaphor of the Invisible Hand -- $tTwo. What Do Economists Do? -- $tThree. In Search of a Model -- $tFour. Economics When Society Matters -- $tFive. Chasing a Chimera -- $tSix. Utopia -- $tSeven. This Imperfect World -- $tEight. Entering the Realm of Production -- $tNine. What Caused Income Inequality? -- $tTen. Understanding an Uncertain World -- $tEleven. In the Long Run -- $tTwelve. In the Short Run -- $tThirteen. The Puzzle of the Golden Age of Capitalism -- $tFourteen. Economies in Crisis -- $tFifteen. Thinking about Economies -- $tNotes -- $tReferences -- $tIndex 330 $aEconomists make confident assertions in op-ed columns and on cable news-so why are their explanations often at odds with equally confident assertions from other economists? And why are all economic predictions so rarely borne out? Harnessing his frustration with these contradictions, Jonathan Schlefer set out to investigate how economists arrive at their opinions. While economists cloak their views in the aura of science, what they actually do is make assumptions about the world, use those assumptions to build imaginary economies (known as models), and from those models generate conclusions. Their models can be useful or dangerous, and it is surprisingly difficult to tell which is which. Schlefer arms us with an understanding of rival assumptions and models reaching back to Adam Smith and forward to cutting-edge theorists today. Although abstract, mathematical thinking characterizes economists' work, Schlefer reminds us that economists are unavoidably human. They fall prey to fads and enthusiasms and subscribe to ideologies that shape their assumptions, sometimes in problematic ways.Schlefer takes up current controversies such as income inequality and the financial crisis, for which he holds economists in large part accountable. Although theorists won international acclaim for creating models that demonstrated the inherent instability of markets, ostensibly practical economists ignored those accepted theories and instead relied on their blind faith in the invisible hand of unregulated enterprise. Schlefer explains how the politics of economics allowed them to do so. The Assumptions Economists Make renders the behavior of economists much more comprehensible, if not less irrational. 606 $aEconomics 606 $aEconomists 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aEconomics. 615 0$aEconomists. 676 $a330 700 $aSchlefer$b Jonathan$f1949-$0894466 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910465506403321 996 $aThe assumptions economists make$92459810 997 $aUNINA