It’s a pity that economists have tried to follow the same philosophical model of mathematicians. I’m currently taking some advanced math classes and my professors exclaim with great pride how non applied their work is. While this may be acceptable for mathematicians, it really doesn’t make any sense for economists to take on that same mind set given that economic problems can cause great misery. The luxury of kicking around abstract, unrealistic theories seems somewhat selfish, and akin to wasting time with academic soduko rather than getting real problems solved. 

I guess the question boils down to this: If economics, as a profession, focused more on making sure that the data they got was of better quality, that their theories were relevant to current problems, and that they tested their theories experimentally would the world be better off? I think so.

Economists missed the brewing crisis. Now many are asking: How can we do better? – The Boston Globe

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