Monday, April 20, 2009

About The Economy (Part 1)

My dictionary defines Economics as a science. I disagree.
I believe it is a branch of philosophy concerned with the use of money in a socio-political context.
Economists speak of 'tinkering', 'tweaking', 'waffling', 'manipulating', 'planning', and more.
Markets are bullish or bearish.
Formulae and equations abound, kicked about by ratios and graphs.
People 'lose confidence', or 'panic' or 'pull back to wait to see what the Fed will do'. Those are not scientific terms.
There are no laws of economics that everyone agrees are applicable throughout every economy in the world. Even the sacred bromide called The Law of Supply and Demand has been shown to fail too often to be considered a hard law or principle.
No, the realm of Economics is more like an elaborate belief system than a science. There are factions and various schools of thought. Some economic philosophers have reached the status of Saint while others are seen as doing the work of the Devil.
Frankly, when it comes to the use and misuse of money, any person's opinion is as good as another.
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