The illusion of economic control is shattered by the simple fact that man acts.  The economy isn’t a machine to be fine-tuned, nor a set of equations to be balanced.  It’s the sum of human choices, rooted in action.  Central planners operate under the assumption that they can predict and direct economic activity.  They can’t.  Markets aren’t equations.  They are the consequence of individuals acting to remove uneasiness.  Every transaction, every exchange, is the result of subjective values and changing conditions.  The economy isn’t something to be “stimulated” or “cooled down.” This language is the rhetoric of those who mistake statistics for reality.  They impose interest rates, print money, regulate industries, and call it guidance.  What they are guiding is not the economy—it is only their own illusions.

The pseudo-economists continue their game.  They believe that data is king, that if they just gather enough of it, they will unlock the secrets of prosperity.  The economy isn’t a laboratory, and people are not test subjects.  No amount of data can change the fundamental truth that man acts with purpose.  The empiricist believes the market must be tested like a scientific hypothesis.  Economic laws don’t emerge from experiments, they’re discovered from logic.  Economic laws don’t wait to be verified by regression analysis.  When supply increases, all things being equal, prices will fall.  This isn’t a theory to be tested—it’s a reality that follows from human nature.  The pseudo-economists demand proof for what is self-evident, yet they accept the absurdity of their own models without question.  They insist that policy must be “data-driven,” but the data itself is just a snapshot of past actions, stripped of meaning.

They will never admit it, but their worldview is flawed.  When their models fail, they blame anomalies, external shocks, or unpredictable behaviors.  They don’t question their assumptions.  The tests continue, and the policies persist.  They inflate, they regulate, and they manipulate, all while ignoring the consequences.  They believe they can control booms and busts.  They believe they can allocate resources better than the market.  They believe they can engineer prosperity.  Every intervention distorts natural economic signals.  Every regulation misallocates capital.  Every act of control creates new problems that must be “solved” with further interventions.  The cycle never ends, because they refuse to acknowledge that their starting premise is wrong.

The worst part is that they see themselves as saviors.  They don’t simply play with markets, they play with lives.  They impose policies that distort incentives and erode wealth, all in the name of stability.  They prop up failing institutions while punishing productive ones.  They inflate asset bubbles and devalue currencies, making it harder for people to plan their own futures.  The honest economist knows better.  Economics begins with the individual, with human action.  The foundation is simple: people act, and their choices shape the economy.  Any theory that ignores this is detached from reality.  The pseudo-economists will not tell the people this because their power depends on the illusion that they are in control.  It is essential that people understand the true nature of economics.  Not because they need to be experts in graphs and charts, but because their lives are shaped by those who claim authority over economic decisions.  If they do not see through the illusion, they will be forever ruled by those who pretend to understand what can’t be controlled.

References

John Elliot Cairnes; The Character & Logical Method of Political Economy

Alfred Schutz; The Phenomenology of the Social World