The Map Is Not the Territory: An Essay on the State of Economics

Abstract

The article claims that modern economics is in the state of crisis, because the major macroeconomic theories are in fact based on the concept of rational expectations, and the main method of research is considered to be the model-building with models as "artificial worlds". Therefore it is supposed that the agents expectations are consistent with a theoretical model. Such constructs are often based on aprioristic assumptions and only after the model is built are they confronted with reality. The author defends an alternative view of science which is methodologically more pluralist and sees deductive model-building in need of being supplemented by other methods of inquiry suggesting that economic science abandons claims for universality of its conclusions.