An economist talking with authority about an area in which he had no expertise – is common enough to have a name: economics imperialism. In a masterly historical account, Matthew Watson, professor of political economy at the University of Warwick, traces the development of the mathematical market models that have come to dominate economics, and which allow economists to dazzle us with what looks like hard science and inarguable logic (and most importantly, numbers). Watson points out the important distinctions and differences between what he calls the “world within the model”, in other words the world as depicted by a mathematical model, and the “real world”, or the world as it is experienced in everyday life.
In the real world, rather than rewarding work on growth, many outside of economics – and increasingly many within the discipline – argue that the focus on economic growth is a big problem. It’s as wrong-headed and outdated as the idea of homo economicus. Perhaps, instead of economists invading non-economic arenas, we actually need more non-economists and more non-traditional economists taking a cold, hard look at this traditional economic objective.