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RE: Economics is a Very Dangerous Science
I vaguely remember so-called economists like Galbraith and another one who praised the USSR "achievements" in development right before it collapsed...
And yes, economics is about human action, not numbers. You should be more exact and say that NEOCLASSICAL economics is a pseudo-science. I'm still traumatized by my miserable failure of that macro test where I had to mindlessly (I didn't) remember an integral equation about temporal preferences
I can relate but, Thank God, school is far in the rear-view now. What I find most useful when analyzing economic growth is a venn diagram. I look at everything in terms of an interactive relationship between three components and how they support one another- political, social and economic. I look for variables/indicators within all three spheres and if/how they maintain a dynamic equilibrium...from an historical perspective. It's an incredible amount of work, but almost always accurate. I did it when NAFTA was being debated comparing the two "NAFTA's" and was able to predict a mass migration North.
Yes, exactly...economists in the 20s and 30s, especially, praised the "achievements" of communism. Some lamented that there was no way market economies could keep up with such an organized system that set national priorities and mobilized all resources to achieve them. Hilarious and sad in retrospect!
I share your cringe factor re: macro!
I remember a political-economy class given by a former bureaucrat. He had such contempt for freedom that he told be go "get down from Mount Pelerin" in the first draft for a final essay. It ended up with at most 1/4 government praise and 3/4 near-anarchist stuff; I ended up with A+ nonetheless for the class.
Wow, it's sad when educators let their ideology bleed into the classroom. However, i certainly understand how easy it is to let that happen!
As you can probably tell by now, i have a bias towards freedom and human dignity, so it's hard not to let them come through when i teach. Still, i try to be as unbiased as possible, agnostic on the surface, and encourage students to think for themselves. I'd NEVER consider dinging someone's grade for disagreeing on a principle.
Then I salute your integrity. That's probably why I could never become a teacher: not only are my pedagogical talents very limited, but I don't think I could "objectively" grade a socialist paper, lest it would include an "interview" afterwards to see if the students' arguments can face intense scrutiny