Wenceslao, J. Gonzalez.

• Author: Vladucu, Andrei
• Position: 2015

A common criticism of neoclassical economy comes from disciplines such as behavioral economics, anthropology or critical theory, arguing that although economy assumes the identity of a natural science, it fails to predict a series of events that have a major impact on society. In this regard, the author agrees with the foundation of this criticism, assuming that the domain of economics is at the same time a social science and a design science because it makes clear statements about the future. The implementation of economic planning, either in micro or macroeconomics, "takes into account the knowledge of the future and the prescriptions available for the achievement of specific targets" (317). The purpose of the author is to offer us a monograph on the role of prediction in general, which is among the most crucial topics in science, and on the role of predictions in economy in particular. To achieve his goal, he elegantly combines the general methodology of science and the particular methodology of economics to fill what seems to be a lacuna in the field on the nature and complexity of prediction. One of the central question of this book is if economy is a science. Most of the answers that the author offers us are cautious, being based on solid documentation. Throughout the book we often meet with the idea that there is currently no real consensus among economists or philosophers about a final answer to such questions.

The overall path of this book goes from general to particular, conducting us from the broad domain of philosophy of science to the particular domain of the methodology of prediction, and the transition of economics from description to prescription. In the first part of the book, the author presents the general elements of science, as well as the theoretical basis of prediction in economics. From his point of view, the connection between the general domain of science and the particular sphere of economics is important, especially because prediction is a central notion in the characterization of economic activity and it has a key role in the discussion on traits to determine whether economics is a science. In the second part of the book, the author discusses about the general orientation in methodology of science and the problem of predictions as a scientific test. Part three of the book deals with the study of methodological framework of social sciences and the place of economics within it. The aim of the author is to present...