Comments on: The Religion of Economists http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/ Economics of organizations, strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and more Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:11:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Speaking of Milton Friedman... - Acton Institute PowerBlog http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-25312 Wed, 30 May 2007 11:14:53 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-25312 [...] interesting: “Transcendental Commitments of Economists: Friedman, Knight, and Nef” (HT: Organizations and Markets). Acton president Robert A. Sirico’s reflection on Friedman’s legacy last year noted, [...]

]]> By: links for 2007-05-26 at Jacob Christensen http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24673 Sat, 26 May 2007 12:24:48 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24673 [...] The Religion of Economists « Organizations and Markets The relationship between economics and religion has attracted increasing attention in recent years. There is the positivist approach, represented by Larry Iannaccone and ERel, which applies standard economic analysis to religious activity and institutions (tags: economics religion) [...]

]]> By: Cliff Grammich http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24597 Sat, 26 May 2007 00:09:21 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24597 I had not been aware of the Nelson and Stackhouse work; thanks for pointing it out. I checked the available online amazon excerpt and read, in the very first sentence of Chapter 1, “To the extent that any system of economic ideas offers an alternative vision of the ‘ultimate values,’ or ‘ultimate reality,’ that actually shapes the workings of history, economics is offering yet another grand prophesy in the biblical tradition.” Could this sentence be applied to sociology, political science, or, indeed, any of the social sciences? More than once I’ve thought of the leading practitioners in these fields as akin to priests or, depending on their standing or even belief in their own infallibility, bishops or pontiffs. Can academic fields beyond the social sciences be likened to religion as well?

]]> By: Richard O. Hammer http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24523 Fri, 25 May 2007 14:00:26 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/24/the-religion-of-economists/#comment-24523 In order to talk about what Mr. X believes we need to have an image of what he believes. Notice two different ways to get this image.
1. We can accept what X says he believes.
2. We can observe the way Mr. X behaves, apart from anything he says. His choices give us a view of what he believes.

Recently I enjoyed reading Coase’s observation (in Essays on Economics and Economists) that Uncle Milton’s famous essay on positivism was not itself an exercise in the positivism he was espousing. The essay is normative!! Leave it to Uncle Ron!

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