1.2 像经济学家一样思考-讲义.pdf

Part ⅠIntroduction 1.2 Thinking Like an Economist 本PPT内容编制依据曼昆著“经济学原理”（第七版），并有 部分图表资料来源于Cengage Learning提供的教辅材料。 The Economist as a Scientist • Economics – The jewel on the crown of social sciences (Gang Fan) – A social science – A science • Economists – (Social) Scientists • Theories data  verify or refute theories The Economist as a Scientist • Methodology – Value neutrality: developing and testing of theories about how the world works – Observations theories more observations • A comment – Since economics is a social science (on how people interact), it is difficult to keep value neutrality (for researchers) – The usefulness of economic theories usually depends on specific models of social interactions (structures or relationships) The Economist as a Scientist • Testing an economic theory – Social experiments: usually impractical – Laboratory experiments: A substitute – Verify econometrically or statistically the implication(s) of a theory via data analysis The Economist as a Scientist • Models with assumptions – Assumptions • To simplify the complex world (with many details) for analytic traceability • But need to capture the nature of the world • Assumptions are made for questions – Models • Built with assumptions (for omitting some unimportant details) • Describe how the “world” works (to capture the truly important aspects) • For purpose to understand the “world” in question The Economist as a Scientist • A Market Model (The circular flow) • Actors – Households • Owen factors