Economic models serve as engines of analysis, not photographic records of reality

Evidence

Friedman’s methodological views were, therefore, not a precise prescription for how economics should be done. His view that economic theory was “an `engine’ to analyze [the world], not a photographic reproduction of it” (1953a, p. 35) was in a sense a truism: a theory that incorporates all detail, as if photographically, is clearly as much an impossibility as a map that reproduces exactly every aspect and feature of terrain and landscape. Nevertheless, the view that economic theory was an “engine” of inquiry, not an (infeasible) camera faithfully reproducing all empirical facts, was important to the developments discussed in this book. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 61

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the engine/camera figure the reader’s entire study rests on — the crucial definitional counterpoint to the real thesis.
• XREF: connects to: Economists’ modeling may bend economic reality toward theoretical assumptions — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 116; Economic theories function as analytic engines rather than exact copies of reality.; A market model can shape markets actively rather than merely describing them — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 1165 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Economic theories function as analytic engines rather than exact copies of reality. #corroborates (0.95)
• Economics actively shapes the economy rather than merely describing it #contradicts (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1987
• Economists’ modeling may bend economic reality toward theoretical assumptions #corroborates (0.85) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 116
• In simulation, models precede and engender facts rather than describing them. #expands (0.82) — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 62
• A market model can shape markets actively rather than merely describing them #contradicts (0.80) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1165
• Frameworks for economic change should be judged by theoretical usefulness, not absolute truth. #expands (0.80) — Greta R. Krippner, The Financialization of the American…, 129
• Unrealistic assumptions do not count as legitimate criticisms in financial economics #qualifies (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 63