In Economics, What Calculates Isn't Always Right

Some of the leading names in economics -- New York University's Paul Romer and Nobel laureates Robert Lucas and Edward Prescott -- have gotten into an unusually public tiff over the proper use of math. Academic as it may seem, the battle reveals a deeper rift in a discipline that is supposed to be aimed at making us all better off.

In an unceremonious outburst, Romer accused several colleagues -- including Lucas and Prescott -- of using mathematics dishonestly to support their ideological beliefs. In constructing theories about how economic growth happens, he suggested, they slipped preposterous assumptions into their economic models to guarantee the results they wanted. His denunciation of such “mathiness” has triggered a storm of commentary to which my Bloomberg View colleagues Justin Fox and Noah Smith have made noteworthy contributions.