Why “Freakonomics” failed to transform economics
The approach was fun, but has fallen out of favour
“Economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.” So starts Alfred Marshall’s “Principles of Economics”, a 19th-century textbook that helped create the common language economists still use today. Marshall’s contention that economics studies the “ordinary” was not a dig, but a statement of intent. The discipline was to take seriously some of the most urgent questions in human life. How do I pay my bills? What do I do for a living? What happens if I get sick? Will I ever be able to retire?
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Gang warfare”
Finance & economics March 23rd 2024
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- Why “Freakonomics” failed to transform economics
From the March 23rd 2024 edition
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How China will strike back at Trump
Xi Jinping has set out his tariff red lines. What if America crosses them?
Russia’s plunging currency spells trouble for its war effort
Supplies from China are about to become more expensive
The great-man theory of Wall Street
Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals
Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal
Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder
Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies
An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory
American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits
An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts