Comments on: Why I Don’t Like the “Austrian School” of Economics http://thoughtsfromatexan.com/blog/why-i-dont-like-the-austrian-school-of-economics/ Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:36:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Chris Milroy http://thoughtsfromatexan.com/blog/why-i-dont-like-the-austrian-school-of-economics/comment-page-1/#comment-44 Chris Milroy Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:49:04 +0000 http://thoughtsfromatexan.com/?p=299#comment-44 Agreed with all of the above. I've often said that the test of a model is its ability to be surprised by false information. If I told a physicist that there was a place on the earth where the law of gravity did not hold, she would be surprised and skeptical. If I told an economist that there was a place on the earth where neoclassical (or Austrian, or whatever) economics did not hold, she could explain it away without even leaving her armchair. When a theory is broad enough to predict everything, it predicts nothing. Agreed with all of the above. I’ve often said that the test of a model is its ability to be surprised by false information. If I told a physicist that there was a place on the earth where the law of gravity did not hold, she would be surprised and skeptical. If I told an economist that there was a place on the earth where neoclassical (or Austrian, or whatever) economics did not hold, she could explain it away without even leaving her armchair.

When a theory is broad enough to predict everything, it predicts nothing.

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