[rilezg]

I hard disagree. Economics (of any flavor) is as soft as any other social science. The field of economics can be a useful lens to help one understand the world and human behavior, but it relies too much on human behavior to be consistently testable in the same way as 'Hard Science'.

[kolbe]

I think the term "hard science" is squishy enough to where you both can argue in good faith, but have a different definition in-mind.

I agree that Econ doesn't quite have the hardness of say Physics, but insofar as you can characterize physics as the development of models that can meaningfully explain reality within reasonable error bounds and feasible energy usage, then Microeconomics sometimes does do this as well.

[adamhp]

> it relies too much on human behavior to be consistently testable

Are psychology or sociology hard science?

[lupire]

Obviously not.