On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 10:20 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think this is bass-ackwards. In so far as economics is something worth > doing, it's a branch of control engineering - most of the useful parts of > economics are to do with the optimisation of production and distribution > processes, or the large-scale behaviour of complicated recursive systems.
I take it that you see economics as more of an applied discipline and less as a science. That's convenient - it'll allow you to sidestep the most difficult questions i.e. the normative ones: what to optimize? GDP? "Real GDP"? Employment? I'd argue that many economists (esp at the Federal Reserve) see themselves precisely like this: as engineers. No wonder then that they obsess on easily quantifiable variables - no matter how remote those variables are to any acceptable notion of progress. Some computer scientist once said "Optimization is the root of all evil". I think that applies to economics as well. -raghu. -- For people who like peace and quiet: A phoneless cord! _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
