Blunt Instrument: Why Economic Theory Can’t Get Any Better, Why We Need It Anyway

Based on his book of the same name, Dr. Rosenberg will discuss why economic theory—with no track-record of predictive success—is still an indispensable tool for protecting civilized life. Economic theory has never gotten any better at prediction. Its explanations are always after the fact. The mathematical models economists have devoted themselves to for more than a century can’t be improved to enhance their empirical relevance. But from this research program that never paid off, a very useful tool has emerged—game theory. It’s just what civilized society needs to protect itself from the rapaciousness that condemns all markets to fail. In his talk, Dr. Rosenberg will help explain exactly what is needed to make sense of economic theory, and why despite its failures, it’s still indispensable. Economic theory is something we all should understand because the economy affects us all, and it is economic theorists who shape that economy for good or ill.