why do economists often disagree?

Answer 1

Economics is not a hard science, it's not like Maths or Biology.
Unlike these subjects, economics does not depend on an absolute, observable truth. There are literally thousands, if not millions, of variables to take in account when analyzing an economic situation, and many of these variables involve personal political and ethical beliefs as well.
It's very natural (and positive) for economists to disagree. In economics, as in every other social science, there is no absolute truth... there are only opinions, and they depend on research and real-world data, but also on the personal ethical beliefs and world views of the researchers themselves.

A worrying trend recently is that many economists focus only on the theories, and forget about checking how they work in the real world. (for example, most free-market economists are ignoring all statistics about the poverty that their policies are causing in the world).
Of course, some of them do this because it benefits certain corporate lobbies that sponsor their studies.

Answer 2

Economics is very interpretive. Even though economists may look at historical data, they don't always agree on what it means. The social world is a very complex thing. Like the three blind men and the elephant, economists are often looking at different aspects. Although most economics is heavily shrouded in mathematics, we are not observing testable and reproducable phenomenon like in physics or biology. We are looking at complex interpretive phenomenon - human networks.

Add to that, personal beliefs and biases. Much of economists normative side bleeds into their positive side and vice versa. It is harder to be an ideologue in physics than in economics.

Here's a joke: How many free-market economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?





None: if the market values a light bulb, the market will provide it.

Answer 3

Because they are not just economists; they are policymakers or advisers to policymakers. Good economics is not necessarily a good policy and is usually far from good politics. So when an economist wears a political hat, he can be tempted to disagree even with himself if there is some political gain from doing so.

Larry Summers, Deputy Secretary of Treasury in the Clinton administration, objected to repeal of estate tax in late 1990s, even though Larry Summers, an economics professor at MIT, did some research in early 1980s in that suggested (correctly) that estate tax may be a hindrance to capital formation in the U.S.

Glenn Hubbard, one-time Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the G.W. Bush administration, insisted that budget deficit is not inflationary, even though Glenn Hubbard, an economics professor at Columbia, wrote a textbook that said (correctly) that budget deficit was in fact inflationary.

Answer 4

There are two thoughts of Modern Economics, originating from two individuals, John Keynes and Frederich Hayek. There are several other economist, but today's economics is primarily based on these two individuals. Keynes was based on government intervention in the market and Hayek's ideas were based on free market society. Until the late 1970's, Keyne's theories were the most dominant. As a matter of a fact, Hayek was loomed as crazy for his ideas for more than 30 years. Eventually, Hayek recieved a Nobel Prize and even today we still use his beliefs for our current economics. There are, however, economists still today who believe that government intervention is still the best economics (Primarily Europe).

Answer 5

Because economics ultimately depends on understanding human behavior, e.g. on the way people make their day-by-day decisions. Since people can be unpredictable sometimes, theorists tend to disagree. Try to figure out how you make your decisions. Do you behave exactly the same you behaved a few years ago?
Nonetheless, at least in macroeconomics, there is sort of a consensus coming around with those so called "macroeconomic synthesis". A good reference is the Michael Woodford's book "Interest and prices", published in 2003.

Answer 6

Better question is, WHY DO DOCTORS ALWAYS WANT TO CUT?
No, seriously, some economists are Supply side, and some are demand side economists.

Answer 7

Each n every person normally has his/her own opinion,
in the same way economists have their own views on a particular topic so they never agree to others opinion,as they think their opinion as the best opinion.

Answer 8

Simple, economics is not an exact science. You can take 5 people looking at the same numbers and get 5 different readings as to what's going on.

Answer 9

Because economics is not a fact or fiction, it is subjective.

Depending on what items you place importance on, and what 'branch' of economics you are from, there will always be disagreement.

Answer 10

because other things do not remain the same and itself being a behavioural science.