Economics isn’t a useful body of theory, but merely a set of observations of human behavior regarding material goods and services within a specific context.
I was certified to teach economics, one of the few public school teachers with that certification here in Oklahoma. My grades were at or near top of the class when I was in college and the professors actually wanted to chat with me about their stuff. I’ve been inside the system. I’ll tell you it is mostly stupid.
The vast majority of economic theory is based on context, a set of ideas fixed to a moment in time and space. Most of them fail to account for very real human factors as perception and reality drift beyond the context of that moment. In fact, the whole point of economics as a discipline is an attempt to change human behavior into something that economists believe is more rational and efficient with resources. In this, the discipline has failed miserably and will continue to do so because it tries so hard to ignore human nature.
There’s no problem coming up with a rough outline that tends to explain some things. It takes only a modicum of intelligence to analyze what you see. However, you cannot backtrack from your outline to generalities about what ought to be. Economics is easily the worst possible foundation for judging human behavior. It is the quintessential failure of Western Civilization, emphatically giving God the finger when He thunders about His stated plans for humanity and the universe.
Most new economic theories arise, in essence, as predatory principles that permit a handful of educated and wealthy folks to skim the excess of production. Once those principles become a general understanding, they weakness begins to show and some other brilliant mind notices. Then another analysis follows with a new set of predatory principles. Forming a theory from the principles is easily the single greatest proof that the intellect is blind to moral reality. The study of economics does affect human behavior, but never as the theory predicts. You can truculently insist your theory is right, but at some point your subconscious mind recognizes what a fool you are, or you simply prove how utterly stupid you really are.
Every economic system is fluid, and there are apparent cycles, but up to now no theory has been able to account for moral and political factors of human will and behavior. You can project your theories back over various historical contexts, but you will inevitably miss the point when you fail to grasp the moral principles that vary between civilizations and various other economic contexts. Morality is simply not recognized by any economic theory; you have to pretend there is no such thing in order to develop a theory.
Don’t trust economics as a guide to anything; use it only as a very narrow set of observations.
