Re: The Problem with Economics

On Mar 26, 11:05 am, Bob Kolker <nowh...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
jmh wrote:

But why does economics need to make claims about
interpersonal utility comparisons?

No global assertion of utility can be made otherwise. Economics
collapses into subjectivism. Ergo, it is not science.



We know that people engage in trades and that insitutions
such as marketsand law facilitate those trades. We can focus
on the objective and measurable features of both the institutions
and the trades and ignore any attempts at exterally understanding
the underlying subjective values/utilities.

Everyone can agree on prices and quantities. Utility is ka ka. Prices,
quantities are objective data. Utility is subjective.

Bob Kolker

Utility is designed to explain individual preferences. It is based on
assumptions of transitive preferences, completeness, etc. Most
economists use wealth as a proxy to utility if they want to sum
utilities. What else can you do? Just because you can't perform
surgery in a perfectly sterile environment it doesn't mean doctors
should operate in the sewers.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Problem with Economics
    ... collapses into subjectivism. ... Ergo, it is not science. ... rejection of Adam Smith's Labor theory of value. ... labor is the only real variable in economics. ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: The Problem with Economics
    ... Economics collapses into subjectivism. ... Everyone can agree on prices and quantities. ... Prices, quantities are objective data. ...
    (sci.econ)
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