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On economics as a physical science

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Abstract

This paper proposes a new interpretation of the subject matter and evaluates it in terms of recent research trends in the discipline of Economics. Instead of applying physical laws and trying to isolate cases where they work in Economics we must look for robust results in Economic theory that hold across space and time. This tends to mimic natural or physical laws. The paper suggests examples where it can be done. Recent trends in experimental research in Economics take the discipline away from order and uniformity and make it distant from physical research. While this is fruitful, search for robust results is a necessity for universal policy making and also for establishing the physical identity of the discipline.

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Correspondence to Sugata Marjit.

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Marjit, S. On economics as a physical science. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 225, 3269–3273 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60109-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60109-2

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