Has economics run out of big new ideas?
The AEA’s conference did not provide evidence to the contrary
At the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, held this year in New Orleans, wonks discussed everything from inflation and technological progress to the economics of crime and the energy transition. Yet those looking for big breakthroughs would have left unsatisfied. Most new work focused on rigorous analysis of data or painstaking theoretical modelling. As one attendee noted, such modelling often fails to produce surprising results, since it tends to reflect the assumptions that go into it.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Downsizing”
Finance & economics January 14th 2023
From the January 14th 2023 edition
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