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Who Runs the Economy? pp 43–55Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Economics as Science

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Abstract

The plan for this talk is to discuss, first, the question ‘What is science?’ I’m going to explain that the second question, ‘Does economics fit the bill?’, is hard to answer since we have no good answer to the first question. Then I shall turn to the question, ‘Does economics’ standing as a science give it special power?’ Here, I shall point out that whether its knowledge constitutes science or not, economics does have esoteric knowledge that provides it with hidden sources of power.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Popper’s ‘Conjectures and Refutations’, originally published 1963 (2013).

  2. 2.

    MacKenzie and Millo (2003).

  3. 3.

    But as Michel Foucault argues, this source of power is not confined to economics but works for any science whose concepts get a grip on the way members of society and its institutions see themselves and others.

  4. 4.

    Atkinson, 1998, Poverty in Europe, Wiley-Blackwell http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631209093.html

  5. 5.

    Deaton (2001) p. 139.

References

  • Atkinson, A. B. (1998). Poverty in Europe. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631209093.html

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  • Deaton, A. (2001). Counting the world’s poor. World Bank Research Observer, 16, 125–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, D., & Millo, Y. (2003, July). Constructing a market, performing theory: The historical sociology of a financial derivatives exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 109(1), 107–145, 122.

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  • Popper, K. (2013). Science: Conjectures and refutations. In A. Bird & J. Ladyman (Eds.), Arguing about Science (p. 16). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Durham, Durham, UK

    Nancy Cartwright

  2. Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA

    John Bryan Davis

Authors
  1. Nancy Cartwright
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  2. John Bryan Davis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Warwick, Warwickshire, United Kingdom

    Robert Skidelsky

  2. Centre for Global Studies, London, United Kingdom

    Nan Craig

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Cartwright, N., Davis, J.B. (2016). Economics as Science. In: Skidelsky, R., Craig, N. (eds) Who Runs the Economy?. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58017-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58017-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58018-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58017-7

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

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