TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lazear,Edward P.
TI  - Economic Imperialism
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7300
PY  - 1999
Y2  - August 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7300
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7300.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Edward P. Lazear
Graduate School of Business
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
Tel: 650/723-9136
Fax: 650/723-0498
E-Mail: lazear@stanford.edu
AB  - Economics is not only a social science, it is a genuine science. Like the physical sciences, economics uses a methodology that produces refutable implications and tests these implications using solid statistical techniques.  In particular, economics stresses three factors that distinguish it from other social sciences.  Economists use the construct of rational individuals who engage in maximizing behavior.  Economic models adhere strictly to the importance of equilibrium as part of any theory. Finally, a focus on efficiency leads economists to ask questions that other social sciences ignore.  These ingredients have allowed economics to invade intellectual territory that was previously deemed to be outside the discipline's realm.
ER  -