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Date: | Fri Mar 31 17:18:43 2006 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
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Dear list members,
I would be very interested in your opinion in the following matter. One =
frequently reads in econometric papers that certain economic variables =
(e.g. inflation, GDP, unemployment) are termed "observable" while others =
(e.g. the NAIRU, potential output, the causal effect of some x on some =
y) are called "unobservable". I have two questions about this:
1) What do you think is the explanation for this difference/distinction?
Please be as specific as possible (e.g. if you think it is a matter of =
direct vs indirect measurability, say exactly what that means; similarly =
if you think it's a matter of measurable vs estimable etc. etc.).
2) What are the loci classici for discussions of the concept of =
observable IN ECONOMICS?
Again, please be as specific as possible: I am NOT looking at =
testability, verfifiability, falsifiability etc. but observability. One =
place is certainly Oskar Morgenstern's On the Accuracy of Economic =
Observations. Uskali Maki sometimes talks about observables but I think =
he uses a different concept (according to which variables such as =
inflation would UNobservable).
Many thanks!
Julian Reiss
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