Data Problems in Economics

New column:

Why Economists Can’t Always Trust Data, by Mark Thoma, The Fiscal Times: To make progress in economics, it is essential that theoretical models be subjected to empirical tests that determine how well they can explain actual data. The tests that are used must be able to draw a sharp distinction between competing theoretical models, and one of the most important factors is the quality of the data used in the tests. Unfortunately, the quality of the data that economists employ is less than ideal, and this gets in the way of the ability of economists to improve the models they use. There are several reasons for the poor quality of economic data...