pull down to refresh
42 sats \ 14 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic OP 6 Aug \ parent \ on: Jeff Bezos’s Yacht: Driver of Economic Activity econ
Perhaps there is one difference. The variables in mathematical reasoning represent only one, pure class of things, whereas verbal reasoning may have something less pure with more that one case or class as one of the bases of the reasoning.
You might be onto something. Mathematical reasoning is not superior to verbal reasoning. The mathematical approach may be more pure and rigorous, but it also leaves out a lot of the nuances of human behavior. Mainstream economists tend to over-elevate the claims of mathematical models.
reply
This is why I say these modelling results should be used to hint at results that can be developed more rigorously.
reply
Again, this may cause a lot of circular reasoning, like The ScienceTM does in service to its paymasters.
reply
In my thinking, the nuances are also very important for understanding human actions and trying to imposing rigid rules of mathematics on them is fruitless.
reply
This whole discussion started because you didn't like the idea of dividing laborers into two classes.
Generally speaking, it's quite common to have heterogeneous goods in models.
reply
No, I think there are a lot more than just two classes! I also understand that there are models containing heterogeneous goods, hopefully a lot of different goods! People coming n two classes is too simplistic, IMO.
reply
Everyone knows there are more than two types. The point of using simplifications, which Austrians do too, is to parse out where certain results come from: i.e. there only need to be two types of worker for some observed phenomenon to occur.
reply
Could it be oversimplification due to the constraints of mathematical modeling? Because everybody does know that there are more than two types of workers, soon to be supplemented by non-carbon based workers.
reply
Yes, it could be an oversimplification. The way to assess that is to see if the result still holds with an arbitrary number of worker types. That takes more work and different sets of assumptions. Again, these results are hints at what might be going on.
When Austrians say "ceteris paribus" it's not because they think other things really do stay fixed. It's to simplify the analysis and focus on a particular aspect.
reply
When Austrians say "ceteris paribus" it's not because they think other things really do stay fixed. It's to simplify the analysis and focus on a particular aspect.
Yes, that certainly does simplify the situation completely! Perhaps they have been burned enough by that single simplification to not use it at every turn in their reasoning. The whole idea behind the human action idea is that everything changes at almost every change in situations. Never are two situations the same.