On the Understanding of Economics

George Leef

A recent Pope Center article in which a number of economics professors explained why they find that students comprehend the subject better if they avoid mathematics and focus exclusively on the logic of human action has raised a little dispute on the blog. If a prof disdains mathematizing the study of economics, is he somehow shortchanging the students? Or is it the case that the use of math does nothing to help us understand and explain the discipline? Here are two pertinent articles on that question, one by Murray Rothbard and one by Gene Callahan. Both defend the Austrian School's position that importing math into economics lends a spurious sense of exactitude where, due to the volitional nature of the subject matter (human beings), we don't have it. It also tends to baffle many students.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....