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10 - The Allocation of Scarce Resources

from Part II - Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2023

Simon Sharpe
Simon Sharpe
Affiliation:
World Resources Institute, London
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Summary

The economics used by governments is based on ideas from the 1870s, when economists adopted the language of science, but not the method. To make the maths easy to solve, they assumed the economy was simple, predictable, and static. Nobody believes these assumptions are true, but they still shape analysis that informs policy. When the economy is complex, uncertain, and changing, this kind of analysis can lead us to bad decisions.

Keywords

EquilibriumAssumptionsEconomicsNeoclassicalMathematicsScientific method
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Five Times Faster
Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change
 , pp. 91 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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