Is economics credible? A critical appraisal of three examples from microeconomics

Whether economics warrants public trust depends on the extent to which assertions by economists can be deemed credible. Three examples from microeconomics are examined to assess how the discipline performs in this regard. First, a purely theoretical argument with broad conceptual implications: a qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of economic methodology 2023-04, Vol.30 (2), p.157-175
Main Author: Muller, Seán M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Credibility
Economists
Microeconomics
Minimum wage
Money
money pump
public trust
Quasi-experimental methods
randomised trials
Rational choice
Reflexivity
Reliability
Supply & demand
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Summary:Whether economics warrants public trust depends on the extent to which assertions by economists can be deemed credible. Three examples from microeconomics are examined to assess how the discipline performs in this regard. First, a purely theoretical argument with broad conceptual implications: a quasi-evolutionary argument for rational choice based on the notion of money pumps. Second, a modelling-related claim with significant social implications: economists' objection to minimum wages based on a simple supply-demand model. Third, methodological choices with implications for all empirical work in microeconomics: the recent proclamation of a 'credibility revolution' in applied microeconomics through the use of experimental and quasi-experimental methods. These are assessed against proposed criteria for credibility: epistemic validity, epistemic reliability, and epistemic reflexivity. On the basis of the performance of the discipline against these criteria on the examples considered, I conclude that public distrust of economics and economists can be well-founded.
ISSN:1350-178X
1469-9427
DOI:10.1080/1350178X.2023.2202682