Recados

Eu estou a ler "Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science" de Dani Rodrik. Um excerto, que contém lições para toda a gente, em particular, para os economistas e praticantes das outras ciências sociais - na verdade, se "the economists do it with models", não são só eles que o fazem:

"Rather than a single, specific model, economics encompasses a collection of models. The discipline advances by expanding its library of models and by improving the mapping between these models and the real world. The diversity of models in economics is the necessary counterpart to the flexibility of the social world. Different social settings require different models. Economists are unlikely ever to uncover universal, general-purpose models.

But, in part because economists take the natural sciences as their example, they have a tendency to misuse their models. They are prone to mistake a model for the model, relevant and applicable under all conditions. Economists must overcome this temptation. They have to select their models carefully as circumstances change, or as they turn their gaze from one setting to another. They need to learn how to shift among different models more fluidly."