What Is Positive Economics?

Empirical economics: It is a branch of economics that corresponds to normative economics according to research content and analysis methods. It refers to the part of economic theory that describes, explains, and predicts economic behavior, so it is also called descriptive economics, which is an important application of economics. In principle, empirical economics is independent of any special ethical concepts, does not involve value judgment, and aims to answer empirical questions such as "what is it" and "can it be done?" Its mission is to provide a generalized theoretical system for making correct predictions about the impact of environmental changes on human behavior. The explanatory power of this theory can be examined by the accuracy, consistency, and other indicators of the predictions it compares with the actual situation.

Positive economics

When people study economics, there are two kinds

versus

Logical poverty in empirical economics

Positive economics hypothesis

The hypothetical reality of the empirical economic hypothesis does not affect the rationality of the hypothesis, but the two stages of constructing the hypothesis and testing the rationality of the hypothesis are related. In order to demonstrate this proposition, a more exaggerated hypothesis on leaf density is constructed: given the position of the leaves around the leaves, it is believed that the leaves intentionally maximize the amount of sunlight to find their own position. The implicit assumption is that the leaves are actually thinking. Obviously, the assumptions are inconsistent with the current universal assumptions, but the author believes that this does not affect the correctness of the hypothesis, because as far as we can see, the density of leaves accords with the result of maximizing sunlight. The meaning of the hypothesis is consistent with the result of the phenomenon, so the hypothesis is reasonable. Not only that, the author also believes that the more meaningful a theory is, the more unrealistic its hypothesis is. If it is to be a hypothesis, its hypothesis must be descriptive and untrue, especially the wider the scope of application, the more accurate the theoretical hypothesis. .

Empirical economics studies the problems that can be verified by objective facts in economics. It does not involve ethics and value judgments. It does not ask people whether their economic behavior is good or evil, and it does not care what people s economic behavior "should be," but only cares about it. "What is it?" In other words, it starts from the hypothetical premise of economic behavior, analyzes the process of economic activities realistically, and predicts the consequences of economic activities, so it has the so-called empirical nature. It mainly studies the relationship between people and things and things and things in economics. . The issues studied by normative economics and empirical economics are different, and even if they are the same, their treatment is very different. For example, whether some people get rich first means inequality between people is within the scope of normative economics; and whether some people get rich first can promote the development of the national economy is a question of empirical economics. Another example is the problem of a 10% increase in the price of grains and oils. Normative economics must use a certain ethics to determine whether the price increase should be made, whether the premise is reasonable, and then study how to achieve it; empirical economics must first understand the prerequisites for price increases Then, after analysis, we can draw a conclusion about whether it can be achieved, study the way to achieve it, and predict the result of a 10% increase in grain and oil prices.