How could economics not be behavioral? If it isn't behavioral, what the hell is it?
Charlie MungerRead
Economics is in many respects the queen of the soft sciences. It's expected to be better than the rest. It's my view that economics is better at the multi-disciplinary stuff than the rest of the soft science. And it's also my view that it's still lousy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Economics, while a leading soft science, has its limitations despite its multidisciplinary nature.
In this quote, Charlie Munger expresses his belief that economics holds a prominent position among the social sciences due to its ability to incorporate various disciplines. However, he also acknowledges its shortcomings, suggesting that even though it excels in certain areas, it still falls short of reaching its full potential as a science.
Themes
EconomicsSoft ScienceMultidisciplinaryLimitationsCharlie Munger
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the importance of economics in understanding social issues, one might use this quote to highlight the field's strengths and weaknesses.
More from Charlie Munger
All quotes →The world of derivatives is full of holes that very few people are really aware of. It's like hydrogen and oxygen sitting on the corner waiting for a little flame.
Charlie MungerRead
I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. I don't believe in just sitting down and trying to dream it all up yourself. Nobody's that smart.
Charlie MungerRead
Look at this generation, with all of its electronic devices and multitasking. I will confidently predict less success than Warren, who just focused on reading.
Charlie MungerRead
Economics profession, they've been - they've been confident in various formulas, but economics is not physics. The same formula that works in one decade doesn't work in the next. Economics is a difficult subject.
Charlie MungerRead
As I talk about strengths and weaknesses in academic economics, one interesting fact you are entitled to know is that I never took a course in economics. And with this striking lack of credentials, you may wonder why I have the chutzpah to be up here giving this talk. The answer is I have a black belt in chutzpah. I was born with it.
Charlie MungerRead
Similar quotes
In space, you need to exercise your heart since it's not pumping blood around at the same rate.
Mae JemisonRead
All mathematics is is a language that is well tuned, finely honed, to describe patterns; be it patterns in a star, which has five points that are regularly arranged, be it patterns in numbers like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 that follow very regular progression.
Brian GreeneRead
O telescope, instrument of much knowledge, more precious than any sceptre!
Johannes KeplerRead
Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill.
Stephen HawkingRead
Well, biology today as I see it has an amiable look - quite different from the 19th-century view that the whole arrangement of nature is hostile, 'red in tooth and claw.' That came about because people misread Darwin's 'survival of the fittest.'
Lewis ThomasRead
Without any doubt, the regularity which astronomy shows us in the movements of the comets takes place in all phenomena. The trajectory of a simple molecule of air or vapour is regulated in a manner as certain as that of the planetary orbits; the only difference between them is that which is contributed by our ignorance. Probability is relative in part to this ignorance, and in part to our knowledge.
Pierre-Simon LaplaceRead