Lecture Slide for Chapter 2: Thinking like an Economist - Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw

Principles of Economics, Ninth
Edition
N. Gregory Mankiw




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V. Andreea CHIRITESCU
Eastern Illinois University




N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Economics, 9th Edition © 2021 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in 1
part.

, Chapter 2

Thinking Like an Economist




N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Economics, 9th Edition © 2021 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in 2
part.

, The Economist as a Scientist, Part 1

• Economics is a science
• Economists are scientists
– Devise theories
– Collect data
– Analyze these data “I’m a social scientist,
• Verify or refute their Michael. That means I
can’t explain electricity
theories or anything like that, but
if you ever want to know
– Use the scientific method about people, I’m your
man.”

N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles
N. Gregory
of Economics,
Mankiw,9Principles
th
Edition ©of2021
Economics,
Cengage.
9th All
Edition
Rights
© Reserved.
2021 Cengage.
May not
All Rights
be scanned,
Reserved.
copied
May
or not
duplicated,
be scanned,
or posted
copied
to or
a publicly
duplicated,
accessible
or website, in whole or in 3
part. posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

, The Economist as a Scientist, Part 2

• Scientific method
– Dispassionate development and testing of
theories about how the world works
– Observation, theory, more observation
• Conducting experiments in economics
– Is often impractical
• Substitute for laboratory experiments
– Economists pay close attention to the
natural experiments offered by history
N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Economics, 9th Edition © 2021 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in 4
part.