Foundations of Real-World Economic: What Every Economics Student Needs to Know

摘要

John Komlos took his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago, but his approach to and perspectives on economics are hardly those commonly associated with that institution. Although "Chicagonomics" is neither as uniform nor laissez faire as sometimes depicted, U of C economists are generally assumed to be classical liberals and strong believers in economic freedom. To employ a favorite tool of economics—the stylized fact—it can be said that, largely as a result, they put great faith in economic rationality, and cling to concepts such as perfect competition and competitive equilibria, and measures such as GDP and GDP per capita. They trust that markets are efficient and believe in limited, even minimal governmental intervention in the economy. They accept and endorse the axiomatic nature and deductive logic of the discipline, privileging rigorous theory, math and statistics, and valorizing ontological parsimony. For the most part, they are interested in, and practice positive rather than normative economics (Ebenstein 2015).