Martin Econometrics: Econometría y Aplicaciones

INTRODUCTION.-  "Economists are far from unanimous about the definition of their subject. Here are some definitions of economics from contemporary principles of economics textbooks: "Economics is the study of economies, at both the level of individuals and of society as a whole "(Krugman and Wells, 2004, p. 2). "Economics is the study of how human beings coordinate their wants and desires, given the decision-making mechanisms, social customs, and political realities of the society" (Colander, 2006a, p. 4). "Economics is the study of how society manages its scarce resources" (Mankiw, 2001, p. 4). "[Economics is the] social science that studies the choices that individuals, businesses, governments, and entire societies make as they cope with scarcity" (Bade and Parkin, 2002, p. 5). "[E]conomics is the study of human behavior, with a particular focus on human decision making" (Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel, and MacPherson 2006, p. 5). Thus,...

ABSTRACT: " To what degree do economists disagree about key economic questions? To provide evidence, we make use of the responses to a series of questions posed to a distinguished panel of economists put together by the Chicago School of Business. Based on our analysis, we find a broad consensus on these many different economic issues, particularly when the past economic literature on the question is large. Any differences are unrelated to observable characteristics of the Panel members, other than men being slightly more likely to express an opinion. These differences are idiosyncratic, with no support for liberal vs. conservative camps." URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18728.pdf   COMMENTS: While any consensus among a sample of economists depends on where they are from, academically speaking, and the complexity of the question (An economic projection of the GDP might not qualify as a "real" question). On the other hand, the hypothesis that there may be a consen...