Brad De Long wrote:
>He's brilliant, and very witty: good company. Lots of interesting
>ideas about how game theory should be developed...
Most mainstream economists have long ago given up trying to "discover the
truth" about the economy. Rather, they want to be surrounded by brilliant and
clever folks. And, better yet, these folks will be good company.
(I don't intend to claim anything about the existance of "truth" but this is
the game mainstream economists believe they are playing).
Obviously, little can be proved or disproved by a math model as it depends on
the initial assumptions. And, little can be proved or disproved by empirical
studies as they too depend on initial assumptions/techniques.
Therefore, you can't pick the "best" economists according to who has revealed
the most about "the truth" about the economy. But, you can identify "smart"
folks who do tough stuff (strange math, cutting edge econometrics, and so on).
This is one of the reason that in mainstream economics things have become
really "technical" -- there is little else that gets most economists attention
from other economists.
This is not true for all mainstream economists (there are a number who do good
stuff), but it is a general trend with this field.
Eric
