Economic theories are endogenous and actively shape the world they describe.

Evidence

Economic theory is, then, both much more and much less than an instruction sheet. It is more because it is causally important in the world, and not just a correspondent reflection of it—it is, in the language of economics, endogenous to it. Different theories tell us which rules to pick, which policies to follow, and how to design institutions, providing different payoffs to different groups, in the process changing the world that the theories purport to map. But economic theory is also much less than an instruction sheet because of the partial nature of various theories and how incompletely they map onto the world they strive to describe. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 122

Categorization

• DEFINE: Blyth’s core framing of economic theory as endogenous ‘instruction sheet’ — a concept central to the whole book’s argument about austerity.
• XREF: Connects to the ‘performativity of economics’ thesis (Callon/MacKenzie) and to how Mattei frames austerity as an imposed blueprint rather than neutral policy. — connects to: Economic theory is commonly assumed to map perfectly onto a constant reality — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 119; Economic concepts actively constitute the economic behavior they describe — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 105; Economics actively shapes the economy rather than merely describing it — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1987 (+5 more)
• SEED: Possible angle: how policy blueprints are self-fulfilling — theories don’t just predict the economy, they construct it through rule-selection.

Broader Connections

• Economic concepts actively constitute the economic behavior they describe #corroborates (1.00) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 105
• Economics actively shapes the economy rather than merely describing it #corroborates (1.00) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1987
• Economic theory embodied in devices performs and creates its own posited phenomena. #expands (0.95) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 1196
• Financial theories can become true by guiding the practices they describe #exemplifies (0.90) — Gerald F. Davis & Suntae Kim, Financialization of the Economy, 38
• Economics is generically performative when real-world actors actually use it. #qualifies (0.80) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 85
• Economics operates through material devices and algorithms as much as beliefs. #complicates (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 95
• The economy is a human creation and therefore can be transformed. #expands (0.70) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 41