[1ncorrect]

My current thesis, from a position of absolute agnostic ignorance, is economics is what filled the void in society vacated by religion after the enlightenment.

They’re functionally indistinguishable, with mythology replaced by mathematics, and God replaced with GDP. Similarly, they’re both arbitrary rules; conjured, imposed, and protected from scrutiny by the ruling class.

That’s not to say it’s not useful, but I find it baffling that an imaginary concept is unquestionably granted veto over tangible and visceral phenomena.

[achenatx]

the difference between economics (or science) and religion is that economics is used to predict the future. When economics fails to predict the future, the models are changed until they can predict the future.

religion tells you what goals you should have and how you should live a life, passing judgement and establishing morality.

They are orthogonal to each other.

[lukifer]

"Economists have successfully predicted nine of the last five recessions."

[lukifer]

I've used to think the Reagan-era political coalition (persisting to this day) made no sense: the values and worldviews of evangelicals and economic libertarians have terribly little in common. Then it clicked, the common belief that united them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis