A topic that I have only recently started to delve into is the way in which economics is viewed. Is it a science similar to physics that follows strict laws and forces that can be measured and predicted with the use of mathematical models and equations, or is economics more of a philosophy where theoretical models are used to compare how things are compared with how they should be.
I used to believe that economics was an exact science that followed certain rules and principles, after all that is how the majority of my economics classes have taught the subject. But according to a lot of the sources I read (especially the ones written after the 2008 financial crisis) when researching the economics profession tend to say economics needs to return to more of a philosophical viewpoint. They argue that while mathematical models can be used in microeconomic predictions, they really don't apply when viewing the economy as a whole.
I can agree with this from my economics education so far. Each section that is covered in everyone of my classes is really only looking at a small part of the economy, even in my macroeconomics class we would discuss a single market in the economy like the labor market, or the goods market, etc, and even during the discussion of one particular markets a lot of assumptions had to be made in order for the given model to work. The argument that philosophical economists make is because economics is viewed as similar to an exact science the predictions it makes are taken very literally. And when these predictions are incorrect like they were in 2005, the consequences can be devastating. Economics really cant be viewed as an exact science because so much of it is based on human behavior and what people will chose to do with their money in this situation or that situation and sometimes that really just cant be predicted.
Good source comparing economics as a science or a philosophy.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/economics/
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