POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS AS SPURIOUS PREDICTIONS: TOWARD A THEORY OF ECONOMISTS' IGNORANCE.

Lao Tzu and Marx together provide the basis of an epistemology based on ignorance-not on knowledge. The failure of an epistemology based on knowledge is shown by the internal inconsistencies afflicting mainstream economics: Economic theory predicts certain empirical phenomena but these fail to reveal themselves. In fact, the strongest research finding in development economics is that there are almost no robust empirical relationships between an implemented policy and its desired outcomes in the real world. A theory of ignorance can highlight many economic contradictions-and may even prove useful in understanding autistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]