A Classical Garden of Liberal Economics
A Classical Garden of Liberal Economics
Policy versus Abstraction
This chapter discusses the Classical Liberal methodology. In the Classical Liberal method, formal theory was something to be conscious of, to be kept in the back of one's mind as difficult policy issues were confronted. However, it was secondary to educated common sense, and the method required one to be clear about the judgments one was making in applying a particular model and in deciding which assumptions were reasonable and which were not. Applied policy economics had to explicitly deal with all such issues, which meant that no firm policy conclusion followed from scientific theory. In policy, science played only a supporting role. However, in what would increasingly become associated with the neoclassical method, that would change, and scientific theory would occupy center stage within the realm of policy thinking.
Keywords: Classical Liberal methodology, formal theory, policy issues, educated common sense, policy economics, scientific theory
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