Paul Romer, from whom I had the privilege to receive instruction in the first semester of my PhD studies, and who has gone on to great things, sees trouble in the way mainstream macroeconomics is done. He has been writing about this in various ways for a while, notably when he introduced the notion of “mathiness” (search for the term on this very blog to see what I had to say about it). His diagnosis about the trouble with macroeconomics, which is quite convincing to me, is here.

This essay by Alison Schrager caught my attention this morning, appropriately for Labor Day. I recommend reading it. It may also make me try to read the new book by Joel Mokyr she mentions, but perhaps this will have to wait for when new technology will give me a few more hours in a day.