.@JustinWolfers highlights a fantastic Deaton essay I've been sending my friends for years: nber.org/papers/w14690.… http://t.co/h0e3iNw0az—
Michael R. Strain (@MichaelRStrain) October 12, 2015Economics journalists: Please read this fantastic paper by Angus Deaton: nber.org/papers/w14690.…. http://t.co/oBNteMxmJI—
Michael R. Strain (@MichaelRStrain) October 13, 2015
Recently I thought it might be interesting to give the other side in the modelling debate a chance. Frankly, I have not found the debates online to be particularly stimulating or interesting, so I thought I’d go to what is supposed to be a prime source. Some digging led me to the philosopher Nancy Cartwright (no, not the Simpsons voice actress!). I thought this would be a particularly interesting source because, apparently, she has recently waned in her support for modelling. So, I cracked open her book Hunting Causes and Using Them: Approaches in Philosophy and Economics.
Before delving into the particulars, I’ll be blunt: Cartwright’s argument is not interesting and it can be refuted by simply pointing out her poor use of analogy. I have some sympathy for why she used such a poor analogy upon which to build her argument and I will discuss why I think…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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