Ekonomska nauka i privredna kriza: Šanse i hazardi mogućeg paradigmatskog preokreta
Economic Science And The Global Crisis: Prospects And Hazards Of A Paradigmatic Turnaround

Summary/Abstract: The ongoing crisis of the world economy has significantly affected many walks of social life and, among them, the standing of economic science and its present and potential role in designing institutions and formulating policies. The scientific circles and research centers are increasingly criticized for not having been able to predict the crisis and for not being capable of finding ready remedies to the manifold developments and manifestations of the crisis. The paper lays out some epistemological facts and methodological reasons because of which Economics cannot and will never be in the position of identifying hard and fast answers and unique solutions. The reasons for the peculiar ambiguity of economic diagnoses and the equally indecisive policy recommendations are deep seated and of a fundamental nature. Economic realities are exceedingly complex and the analysis of their various aspects naturally leads to widely differentiated and frequently contradictory findings. The weights to be attached to analytical implications of such various aspects cannot be determined on an objective, scientifically verified basis; as these weights depend on the subjective assessments of the researchers and ultimately turn out arbitrary and unpredictable, it is only natural for various approaches to come out with widely differing conclusions. Subjective valuations of various elements in the economic systems also play an important role: the stands on the degree to which employment is to be favored as opposed to stabilization policies depends on how the two major social desiderata are valued by the concerned spectator. The influence of various factors on the observed set of economic and social phenomena cannot always be determined with sufficient precision and a number of important findings depend therefore on the subjective evaluation of their actual strength. Such open ends in economic reasoning and policy analyses give rise to predictably divergent research findings and hence to opposed views regarding the desirable directions of economic and social policies.

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