The strength of radical doubt

Following the news from CERN that they potentially have an experimental result that destroys a foundation of modern physics I joked that I might have to hand back my physics degree. Obviously the degree doesn't get invalidated just because some pesky particle broke the speed of light, but it did remind me that the radical doubt that physicists carry with them is a strength and not a weakness.

It is a great characteristic of the discipline that when faced with a result that clearly is outside existing models rather than circling the wagons there is a palpable sense of excitement and challenge. It may create a lot of problems and take much time to progress, but it would be one of the greatest times to be a physicist. The opportunity to renew and rewrite a discipline comes around very rarely.

So again I am frustrated by mainstream economics and in particular the use of economics within policy and media debates on the credit crisis and the recovery that has not happened. When the world keeps sending this discipline signals that all is not well, that models and methods do not stand the test of reality, the response is very different to that in physics. Rather than accepting the need to start anew, there is a denial that there is any need for change and renewal.

Until radical doubt and to be honest more humility enters the discipline there is little hope that we can move forward towards a productive version of economics. We live with flat earth economics in a time when we need to be moving faster than the speed of light.

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