Opinion
Opinion

The Questionable Role of Quantitative Methods in Economics

The Questionable Role of Quantitative Methods in Economics
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Commentary

Most economists are in agreement that, through statistical and mathematical methods, one can organize historical data into a useful body of information, which can serve as the basis both for economic theory and assessments of the state of the economy. It is also believed that the knowledge secured from the data is tentative since it is not possible to know all the information and future empirical information might falsify previous theory.

Frank Shostak
Frank Shostak
Author
Frank Shostak, Ph.D., is an associated scholar of the Mises Institute. His consulting firm, Applied Austrian School Economics, provides in-depth assessments and reports of financial markets and global economies. He has taught at the University of Pretoria and the Graduate Business School at Witwatersrand University.