Economic Ideas You Should Forget

✍ Scribed by Bruno S. Frey, David Iselin (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 168
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Reporting on cutting-edge advances in economics, this book presents a selection of commentaries that reveal the weaknesses of several core economics concepts. Economics is a vigorous and progressive science, which does not lose its force when particular parts of its theory are empirically invalidated; instead, they contribute to the accumulation of knowledge.
By discussing problematic theoretical assumptions and drawing on the latest empirical research, the authors question specific hypotheses and reject major economic ideas from the “Coase Theorem” to “Say’s Law” and “Bayesianism.” Many of these ideas remain prominent among politicians, economists and the general public. Yet, in the light of the financial crisis, they have lost both their relevance and supporting empirical evidence.
This fascinating and thought-provoking collection of 71 short essays written by respected economists and social scientists from all over the world will appeal to anyone interested in scientific progress and the further development of economics.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Capitalism....Pages 1-3
Sola Protestantism in Economics....Pages 5-7
Economics Has Nothing to Do with Religion....Pages 9-10
More Choice Is Always Better....Pages 11-12
People Are Outcome Oriented....Pages 13-14
Deriving People’s Trade Policy Preferences from Macroeconomic Trade Theory....Pages 15-16
Size (of Government) Doesn’t Matter....Pages 17-19
Bayesianism....Pages 21-22
The Return on Equity....Pages 23-25
Peak Oil Theory....Pages 27-28
More Choice Is Always Better....Pages 29-30
(Un)Productive Labor....Pages 31-32
Volatility Is Risk....Pages 33-34
Robots Will Take All Our Jobs....Pages 35-36
Economic Growth Increases People’s Well-Being....Pages 37-38
Big Data Predictions Devoid of Theory....Pages 39-41
Government Debts Are a Burden on Future Generations....Pages 43-44
Public Spending Reduces Unemployment....Pages 45-46
The Capital Asset Pricing Model....Pages 47-49
Innovation Programs Lead to Innovation....Pages 51-53
Factors of Production Are Homogenous Within Categories....Pages 55-56
Individual Utility Depends Only on Absolute Consumption....Pages 57-58
The Relative Price Effect Explains Behavior....Pages 59-60
The Precedence of Exchange over Production....Pages 61-62
Inequality Reduces Growth....Pages 63-64
Contingent Valuation, Willingness to Pay, and Willingness to Accept....Pages 65-66
Governments Must Reduce Budget Deficits....Pages 67-68
Reach for Your Dream....Pages 69-70
The EU’s Competiveness Authority....Pages 71-72
Say’s Law....Pages 73-74
Boundedness of Rationality....Pages 75-76
Rational Expectations....Pages 77-78
Letting Insolvent Banks Fail....Pages 79-80
Pleasantville Politics: Selecting Politicians According to Ability....Pages 81-82
The Axioms of Revealed Preference....Pages 83-84
There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: The Myth of Expansionary Consolidations....Pages 85-86
Government Hurts the Economy More Than It Helps....Pages 87-88
The Motivated Armchair Approach to Preferences....Pages 89-90
Economics Is Based on Scientific Methods....Pages 91-92
The Death of Distance....Pages 93-94
Dump the Concept of Rationality Into the Deep Ocean....Pages 95-96
Pay for Performance Raises Performance....Pages 97-98
Home Ownership Is Good....Pages 99-100
Coase Theorem....Pages 101-103
Poverty Is Good for Development....Pages 105-106
Markets Are Efficient....Pages 107-108
CEOs Are Paid for Talent....Pages 109-110
The Efficiency-Equity Tradeoff....Pages 111-113
Deterministic Trend of Inequality....Pages 115-116
Quantitative Easing....Pages 117-118
Hosting the Olympic Games....Pages 119-120
Abolishing Cash as Solution Against the Evil....Pages 121-123
Receiving Money and Not Having to Work Raises Happiness....Pages 125-126
Saints in Public Office....Pages 127-128
Helicopter Money....Pages 129-130
Decisions Are Deterministic....Pages 131-132
Politicians Systematically Converge to the Median Voter....Pages 133-134
Artists Are Poor and thus Unhappy....Pages 135-136
Returns on Educational Investments Are Highest for Early Childhood Interventions....Pages 137-138
EU Centralization....Pages 139-140
The Alleged Asymmetry in Maintaining a Fixed Exchange Rate....Pages 141-143
Governments Should Maximize the Happiness of the Population....Pages 145-146
Okun’s Equality-Efficiency Trade-Off....Pages 147-148
“A Rising Tide Raises All Boats”....Pages 149-150
Social Cost Analysis....Pages 151-152
Natural Resources Make Rich....Pages 153-154
The Natural Rate of Interest Is Positive....Pages 155-156
Europe’s “Skill Shortage”....Pages 157-158
Taxes Are Paid Because of Expected Punishment....Pages 159-160
Better Safe than Sorry....Pages 161-162
The End of Work....Pages 163-164
Postscript....Pages 165-166

✦ Subjects

Popular Science in Economics;History of Economic Thought/Methodology