Quote from: Questing on May 11, 2013, 11:17:36 AM

Quote from: shawshankinmate37927 on May 11, 2013, 11:04:08 AM

Quote from: Questing on May 11, 2013, 06:27:29 AM

Economics is a science, like weather forecasting is a science. There are so many shifting variables, including human behavior, so our scientific inquiry has limits. Perhaps it is fairer to say that economics is part science, part art?

More specifically, economics is a social science. That is to say, it is a science of human behavior. Human behavior isn't a variable in economics. That would be like saying mathematics is part of algebra. In reality, economics is a part of human behavior, just as algebra, calculus, or trigonometry, is a specific study within the field of mathematics. Economics is, at its essence, an effort to understand and explain human behavior--behavior related to the exchange of goods and services.

Love your profile picture by the way. Shaw shank redemption is one of my all time fav movies.

I kind of, sort of get your point. But how can human behavior not be a variable in economics, when economics is the study of human behavior? Surely that makes in variable by default? This is a mind bender. Perhaps I need to be sober to understand this!!

Thanks. How about that, Shawshank Redemption happens to be my all-time favorite movie.

Let me try a different analogy. Say you have a pepperoni pizza. Would it be accurate to say that the pizza is a part of the pepperoni? Of course not. Pepperoni is one of the parts that make up the pizza. Or, how about a house? Is a house part of a bathroom, or is the bathroom part of the house? Likewise, human behavior isn't part of economics. Economics is part of human behavior/interaction.