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Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

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How do we account for these effects in our understanding <strong>of</strong><br />

markets? <strong>The</strong> ideal form <strong>of</strong> was useful in that it<br />

allowed us to set up a situation that was easily modeled and from<br />

which we could generate equations to govern economic phenomena.<br />

But as science has progressed, we realize that the world described in<br />

this view <strong>of</strong> economics is not our world. Instead, humans are much<br />

<br />

but it also gives us a more accurate sense <strong>of</strong> the reality <strong>of</strong> markets.<br />

<br />

Ariely, Predictably Irrational.<br />

Sheehan, Understanding Keynes’ General <strong>The</strong>ory.<br />

<br />

Is money real? Is money a necessary part <strong>of</strong> human culture? If we chose<br />

to eliminate all currency, would a new form <strong>of</strong> exchange, that is, a new<br />

type <strong>of</strong> money, soon appear?<br />

Is economics like physics? We cannot choose the speed <strong>of</strong> light or the<br />

form <strong>of</strong> the laws that govern electricity, but can we choose the form <strong>of</strong><br />

our economy and how it operates?<br />

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