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Cover; Economics Rules: Why Economics Works, When It Fails, and How To Tell The Difference; Copyright; Dedication; Preface and Acknowledgments; Contents; Introduction: The Use and Misuse of Economic Ideas; Chapter 1: What Models Do; A Variety of Models; Models as Fables; Models as Experiments; Unrealistic Assumptions; On Math and Models; Simplicity versus Complexity; Simplicity, Realism, and Reality; Chapter 2: The Science of Economic Modeling; Clarifying Hypotheses; When Standard Intuition Fails Us; Scientific Progress, One Model at a Time; Models and Empirical Methods

Models, Authority, and HierarchyWrong versus Not Even Wrong; Chapter 3: Navigating among Models; Diagnostics for Growth Strategy; General Principles of Model Selection; Verifying Critical Assumptions; Verifying Mechanisms; Verifying Direct Implications; Verifying Incidental Implications; External Validity, Redux; Chapter 4: Models and Theories; The Theory of Value and Its Distribution; The Theory of Business Cycles and Unemployment; Theories as Explanation of Speci˛c Events; Theories Are Really Just Models; Chapter 5: When Economists Go Wrong; Errors of Omission: The Financial Crisis

Errors of Commission: The Washington ConsensusThe Psychology and Sociology of Economics; Power and Responsibility; Chapter 6: Economics and Its Critics; Reconsidering the Usual Criticisms; The Question of Values; Lack of Pluralism; Ambition and Modesty; Epilogue: The Twenty Commandments; Ten Commandments for Economists; Ten Commandments for Noneconomists; Notes; Introduction: The Use and Misuse of Economic Ideas; Chapter 1: What Models Do; Chapter 2: The Science of Economic Modeling; Chapter 3: Navigating among Models; Chapter 4: Models and Theories; Chapter 5: When Economists Go Wrong

Chapter 6: Economics and Its CriticsIndex

The economics profession has become a favourite punching bag in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Economists are widely reviled and their influence derided by the general public. Yet their services have never been in greater demand. To unravel the paradox, we need to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of economics. Dani Rodrik argues that the multiplicity of theoretical frameworks - what economists call 'models' that exist side by side is economics' great strength. Economists are trained to hold diverse, possibly contradictory models of the world in their minds. This is w