The Human Action Podcast The Method Behind Real Economic Thinking
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May 5, 2025 Dr. Jonathan Newman, an economist and instructor at the Mises Academy, dives deep into the essence of economics, unraveling its core differences from fields like psychology and history. He explains why economics prioritizes understanding over mere prediction and highlights the complexities of human decision-making. Newman also emphasizes the importance of economic education, particularly for homeschooling families, and critiques the limitations of empirical approaches, advocating for a more nuanced comprehension of human behavior in economic contexts.
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Economics as Study of Choice
- Economics helps understand human interactions and market phenomena universally through logical deductions, not through empirical generalizations alone.
- It differs fundamentally from psychology and natural sciences as economics studies purposeful choice and action rather than mental states or matter.
Economic Laws Are Apodictic
- Economic laws are apodictically true like geometric theorems, derived by logical deduction from basic premises about human choice.
- Their applicability depends on relevant conditions being met, similar to how geometric proofs assume specific shapes.
Nicolas Cage and Swimming Pools
- A humorous observed correlation linked Nicolas Cage movies to drowning in swimming pools to show the absurdity of confusing correlation with causation.
- Such spurious correlations illustrate why economics relies on logical deduction more than raw data correlation.
