March 13, 2017

Note on Lars Syll on Axiomatization

Blog-Reference

With regard to the standard rationality axioms in economics, Alan Kirman maintains: “My main problem is that none of these axioms is taken by observing lots and lots of people.”

This is true but NOT the critical point. The critical point is that there is NO such thing as an axiom of human behavior, to begin with. But there are objective systemic axioms and economics has to be based on these. Economics is NOT a social science but a systems science.

Methodological rule #1: If it isn’t macro-axiomatized, it isn’t economics. For details see From false micro to true macro: the new economic Paradigm.

By the way, it is a rather sheepish idea of scientific dilettantes that axioms come directly from observation: “If then it is the case that the axiomatic basis of theoretical physics cannot be an inference from experience, but must be free invention, have we any right to hope that we shall find the correct way?” (Einstein)

Physicists did, economists did not.

Egmont Kakarot-Handtke


For details of the big picture see cross-references Axiomatization.