It took Western civilization something like 4000 years to write an equation for gravity, a phenomenon exemplified by millions if not billions of examples, each of systems consisting of one moving part. And that was just a description, Newton didn't begin to say _why_ it worked.
Economics necessarily depends on subjective judgment, which doesn't exclude rigor, but does include the possibility that any given set of experts is vulnerable to distortions in judgment from their own political preferences and personal ambitions.
Which means anyone leaving it to these experts is doomed. If you don't understand the basics of the methods and theories well enough to detect when things aren't adding up, you'll just go wherever they lead. And, surprise! most politicians, lacking understanding, discover that the most convincing economists happen to have the prescriptions most convenient politically. A review of the policy sustainability of the world's industrialized economies shows how well that model has worked out. Not convinced? Ask yourself how well Congress would do writing an operating system, an undertaking conceptually much simpler than managing the US national economy.
The problem isn't evidence, or even theory. It's the generally low level of understanding and the dishonesty of the discussion, on all sides.
It took Western civilization something like 4000 years to write an equation for gravity, a phenomenon exemplified by millions if not billions of examples, each of systems consisting of one moving part. And that was just a description, Newton didn't begin to say _why_ it worked.
Economics necessarily depends on subjective judgment, which doesn't exclude rigor, but does include the possibility that any given set of experts is vulnerable to distortions in judgment from their own political preferences and personal ambitions.
Which means anyone leaving it to these experts is doomed. If you don't understand the basics of the methods and theories well enough to detect when things aren't adding up, you'll just go wherever they lead. And, surprise! most politicians, lacking understanding, discover that the most convincing economists happen to have the prescriptions most convenient politically. A review of the policy sustainability of the world's industrialized economies shows how well that model has worked out. Not convinced? Ask yourself how well Congress would do writing an operating system, an undertaking conceptually much simpler than managing the US national economy.
The problem isn't evidence, or even theory. It's the generally low level of understanding and the dishonesty of the discussion, on all sides.