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Reporting on cutting-edge advances in economics, this book presents a selection of commentaries that reveal the weaknesses of several core economics concepts. Economics is a vigorous and progressive science, which does not lose its force when particular parts of its theory are empirically invalidated; instead, they contribute to the accumulation of knowledge.
By discussing problematic theoretical assumptions and drawing on the latest empirical research, the authors question specific hypotheses and reject major economic ideas from the "Coase Theorem" to "Say´s Law" and "Bayesianism." Many of these ideas remain prominent among politicians, economists and the general public. Yet, in the light of the financial crisis, they have lost both their relevance and supporting empirical evidence.
This fascinating and thought-provoking collection of 71 short essays written by respected economists and social scientists from all over the world will appeal to anyone interested in scientific progress and the further development of economics.

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Introduction.- Capitalism.- Sola-Protestantism in Economics.-Economics Has Hothing to Do with Religion.- More Choice Is Always Better.-People Are Outcome-Oriented.- Deriving Peopls´s Trade Policy Preferences from Macro-Economic Trade Theory.- Size (of Government) Doesn´t Matter.- Byesianism.- The Return on Equity.- Peak Oil Theory.- More Choice Is Always Better.- (Un-)Productive Labor.- Volatility Is Risk.- Robots Will Take All Our Jobs.- Economic Growth Increase People´s Well-Being.- Big Data Predictions Devoid of Theory.- Government Debts Are a Burden on Future Generations.- Public Spending Reduces Unemployment.- The Capital Asset Pricing Model.- Innovation Programs Lead to Innovation.- Factors of Production Are Homogenous Within Categories.- Individual Utility Depends Only on Absolut Consumption.- The Relative Price Effect Explains Behavior.- The Precedence of Exchange Over Production.- Inequality Reduces Growth.- Contingent Valuation, Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept.- Governments Must Reduce Budget Deficits.- Reach for Your Dream.- The EU´s Competiveness Authority.- Say´s Law.- Boundedness of Rationality.- Rational Expectations.- Letting Insolvent Banks Fail.- Pleasantville Politics - Selecting Politicians According to Ability.- The Axioms of Revealed Preference.- The Myth of Expansionary Consolidations.- Government Hurts the Economy More Than It Helps.- The Motivated Armchair Approach to Preferences.- Economics Is Based on Scientific Methods.- The Death of Distance.- Concept of Rationality.- Pay for Performance Raises Performance.- Home Ownership Is Good.- Coase Theorem.- Poverty Is Good for Development.- Markets Are Efficient.- CEOs Are Paid for Talent.- The Efficiency-Equity Tradeoff.- Deterministic Trend of Inequality.- Quantitative Easing.- Hosting the Olympic Games.- Abolishing Cash as Solution Against the Evil.- Receiving Money and Hot Having to work Raises Happiness.- Saints in Public Office.- Helicopter Money.- Decisions are Deterministic.- Politicians Systematically Converge to the Median Voter.- Artists Are Poor and Thus Unhappy.- Returns on Educational Investments Are Highest for Early Childhood Interventions.- EU Centralization.- The Alleged Asymmetry in Maintaining a Fixed Exchange Rate.- Governments Should Maximize the Happiness of the Population.- Okun´s Equality-Efficiency Tradeoff.- A Rising Tide Raises all Boats.- Social Cost Analysis.- Natural Resources Make Rich.- The Natural Rate of Interest Is Positive.- Europe´s "Skill Shortage".- Taxes are Paid Because of Expected Punishment.- Better safe than Sorry.- The End of Work.- Postscript

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