ON THE QUESTION OF THE RELEVANCE OF ECONOMICS AS A SCIENCE: POSTMODERN FILOSOFIA CRITIQUE

  • Emerson Abraham JACKSON Bank of Sierra Leone, Freetown Sierra Leone and University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Abstract

This article has adopted an open discourse in addressing pertinent concerns about the scientific existence of economics as a discipline. In doing so, some (critical) Filosofia arguments have been provided in ensuring that a well balanced approach is taken on the subject. Obviously, the approach of Popperian falsification used by economic science to address scientific justification through its varied scientific platform of technology applications like EVIEWS, STATA, MatLab and many more, have been applauded. Albeit such advances, the views of modern and postmodern critics have also come out saliently in a bid to ensuring open discourses are laid on the way forward in adding scientific credence to the subject matter. In concluding, it was acknowledged that more is needed in ensuring that economic science as practiced by economists takes an open approach to critical discourse, reflecting reality about its pursed scientific ventures, given the persistence of economic volatility manifested across the global community.

References

[1] Bangura, M., Caulker, E. and Pessima, S. 2012. Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Inflation in Sierra Leone: A Structural Vector Autoregressive Approach. Journal of Monetary and Economic Integration, 12(1): 93-123.
[2] Barber, W. 1967. A History of Economic Thought. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
[3] Battisti, G., Hollenstein, H., Stoneman, P and Woerter, M. 2007. Inter and Intra Firm Diffusion of ICT in the United Kingdom (Uk) and Switzerland (Ch) An Internationally Comparative Study Based on Firm-Level Data, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 16(8): 669-687. DOI: 10.1080/10438590600984026.
[4] Bigovic, M. 2012. Demand forecasting within Montenegrin tourism using Box-Jenkins methodology for seasonal ARIMA models. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 18(1): 1–18.
[5] Blaug, M. 1997 ed. The methodology of economics or how economists explain it. Cambridge University Press: UK.
[6] Blaug, M. 1997. ‘Ugly Currents in Modern Economics’, Options Politiques, 18(17), September, pp. 3-8. Reprinted in Mäki, Uskali (ed.) (2002) Fact and Fiction in Economics: Models, Realism and Social Construction (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press).
[7] Boland, L. 2014. Model Building in Economics: Its Purposes and Limitations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[8] Boland, L. (n/d). Critical Realism vs Economic Rhetoric. Working Paper, Simon Fraser University. Available at: http://www.sfu.ca/~boland/realism.htm. (Accessed: 5th March, 2018).
[9] Boland, LA. 1977. Testability in economic science, So. African Journal of Economics, 45: 93-105
[10] Boland, LA. 1991. Current Views on Economic Positivism. Companion to contemporary economic thought.
[11] Boland, LA. 1996. Critical Economic Methodology - A Personal Odyssey. Routledge: London and New York.
[12] Caldwell, BJ. 1984. Some Problems with Falsificationism in Economics. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 15(4): 489-495. DOI: 10.1177/004839318401400404
[13] Crespo, R.F. 1998. Controversy: Is Economics a Moral Science? Journal of Markets & Morality, 1(2): 201-211.
[14] Eggleston, B. 2008. Economics and/as Ethics: From Aristotle to Adam to Arrow. Augustana College. Available at: http://www.augie.edu/pub/values/BrianEggleston080310.pdf (Accessed: 1st March, 2018).
[15] Ericsson, N. R. 2016. Economic Forecasting in Theory and Practice: An Interview with David F. Hendry. International Finance Discussion Papers 1184. DOI: 10.17016/IFDP.2016.1184
[16] Etuk, E.H., Moffat, I.U and Chims, B.E. 2013. Modelling Monthly Rainfall Data of Port Harcourt, Nigeria by Seasonal Box-Jenkins Methods. International Journal of Science, 2 (July): 60-67.
[17] Friedman, M. 1953. ‘The Methodology of Positive Economics’, in M. Friedman, Essays in Positive Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), pp. 3-43.
[18] Galbraith, J. 1977. The Age of Uncertainty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
[19] Haldane, A.G. 2016. The Dappled World. Available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.ukpublications/Documents/Speeches2016/speech937.pdf (Accessed: 1st March, 2018).
[20] Heilbroner, R. 1986. The Worldly Philosophers. Sixth edition. London: Penguin Books.
[21] Hodgson, G. 2008b. What is Wrong with Mainstream Economics? And How Could Economics be Improved? Available at: http://www.feed-charity.org/our-differences-with-mainstreameconomics.htm. (Accessed: 2nd March, 2018).
[22] Jackson, E. A. 2016. Ontological and Epistemological Discourse(s) on Sustainable Development: Perspective on Sierra Leone in the Aftermath of a Decade of Civil Unrest. Journal of Management and Sustainable Development, 8(1): 35-43. DOI: 10.1515/msd-2016-0005
[23] Jackson, E. A. 2017. Economic Methodology: Paradox of Ceteris Paribus (CP) Law in the Context of Sierra Leone. Method(e)s: African Review of Social Sciences Methodology, 2(1-2): 31-4. DOI: 10.1080/23754745.2017.1354553
[24] Jackson, E.A. 2018. Comparison between Static and Dynamic Forecast in Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average for Seasonally Adjusted Headline Consumer Price Index. Revista Economicã, 70(1): 53-65.
[25] Jackson, E.A. (forthcoming). Triangulation: A Retroduction Approach in the Reorientation of Social Science Research for Central Bank Policy in Sierra Leone. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 9 (2): 226-271. DOI: 10.1108/AJEMS-01-2018-0023
[26] Jackson, E.A. (forthcoming2). Introduction to Dynamic Macroeconomic General Equilibrium Models (2nd Ed), 282p. ISBN: 978-1-62273-030-8 (Hardcover, by: Josh L. Torres).
[27] Jackson, E.A. (forthcoming3). Research Methodology in the Social Sciences: Perspective on Sierra Leone.
[28] Jackson, E.A. and Tamuke, E. 2018. Probability Forecast Using Fan Chart Analysis: A Case of the Sierra Leone Economy. Journal of Advanced Studies in Finance, 9(1): 34-44. DOI: 10.14505//jasf.v9.1(17).04
[29] Jackson, E.A., Sillah, A. and Tamuke, E. 2018. Modelling Monthly Headline Consumer Price Index (HCPI) through Seasonal Box-Jenkins Methodology. International Journal of sciences, 7(1): 51-56. DOI: 10.18483/ijSci.1507
[30] Joyce, M.A.S., Lasaosa, A., Stevens, I., and Tong, M. 2011. The Financial Market Impact of Quantitative Easing in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Central Banking, 7(3): 113-161.
[31] Kapetanios, G., Mumtaz, H., Stevens, I., and Theodoridis, K. 2012. Assessing the economy‐wide effects of quantitative easing. The Economic Journal, 122(564): F316 - F347. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2012.02555.x
[32] Keynes, J.M. 1937. “The General Theory of Employment”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 51(1): 209-23.
[33] Kirman, A. P. 1992. Whom or What Does the Representative Individual Represent? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6(2): 117-36.
[34] Klamer, A. and McCloskey, D. 1989. “The Rhetoric of Disagreement” - Rethinking Marxism. Fall, (2): 140-162.
[35] Knight, F.H. 1921. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit (New York: Houghton Mifflin).
[36] Lee, Y.-C. 2010. Business Process Reengineering Within the Media Industry in Taiwan. International Journal on Media Management 12(2): 77-91.
[37] Machlup. F. 1955. The Problem of Verification in Economics, Southern Economic Journal, 21: 1-21.
[38] Mansaray, M. and Swaray, S. 2012. Financial liberalization, monetary policy and money demand in Sierra Leone. Journal of Monetary and Economic Integration, 12(2): 62-90.
[39] McWilliams, T.R. 2008. "Alfred Marshall (1842–1924)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP. DOI:10.1093/ref:odnb/34893
[40] Nelson, J.A. 1991. Feminism and Economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(2): 131-148.
[41] Robbins, L. 1938. Live and Dead Issues in the Methodology of Economics. Economica, New Series, 5(19): 342-352.
[42] Robins, L. 1932. An essay on the nature and significance of economic science. MACMILLAN and CO., LIMITED: London.
[43] Rothbard, MN. 1995. Economic Thought Before Adam Smith: Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Edward Elgar Publishing: UK.
[44] Ruccio, D. 1991. Postmodernism and Economics. Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics, 13(4): 495-510.
[45] Samuels, W.J. 1990. Economics as Discourse: An Analysis of the Language of Economists. Boston: Kluwer.
[46] Schrøder, K. C. 2012. Methodological pluralism as a vehicle of qualitative generalization. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies 9 (2): 798–825.
[47] Smith, A. 1759. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2006.
[48] Smith, A. 1776. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (The Wealth of Nations). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
[49] Tamuke, E., Jackson, E.A., and Sillah, A. 2018. Forecasting inflation in Sierra Leone using Autoregressive Moving Average [ARIMA] and its exogenous counterpart [ARIMAX]: Comparative evaluation. Theoretical and Practical Research in Economic Field, 1(17): 63-74. DOI:10.14505/tpref.v5.2(10).01
[50] Torres, J.L. 2015. Introduction to Dynamic Macroeconomic General Equilibrium Models. Vernon Press: USA and Spain.
[51] Vikor, D. 1981. Toward Qualitative Economic Analysis, International Journal of Social Economics, 8(7): 42-49, https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013901
Published
2018-12-31
How to Cite
JACKSON, Emerson Abraham. ON THE QUESTION OF THE RELEVANCE OF ECONOMICS AS A SCIENCE: POSTMODERN FILOSOFIA CRITIQUE. Theoretical and Practical Research in Economic Fields, [S.l.], v. 9, n. 2, p. 131-138, dec. 2018. ISSN 2068-7710. Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/tpref/article/view/2758>. Date accessed: 28 mar. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.14505/tpref.v9.2(18).01.