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Economic Theory

In: A Critical History of Economics

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  • John Mills

Abstract

It is all very well to criticise the development of economic theory on the grounds that it has failed to provide satisfactory answers to important economic questions, but unconvincing unless the missing answers can in fact be found. An important legacy of the way in which economics has developed is the notion that even to suggest that there might be persuasive ways of explaining how to achieve desired levels of economic growth, employment, inflation and the elimination of gross poverty, combined with a sustainable future — and all at the same time — is utopian and thus absurd. The general view is that the variables involved are too unreliable to be sufficiently quantifiable, the vagaries of human nature too uncertain to provide a manageable degree of consistency, and the links between cause and effect too convoluted and tenuous to be successfully disentangled.

Suggested Citation

  • John Mills, 2002. "Economic Theory," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: A Critical History of Economics, chapter 2, pages 13-39, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-4039-1440-8_2
    DOI: 10.1057/9781403914408_2
    as

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