Bibliogr. p. 217-231. Index

Takes a close look at economics to examine when it falls short and when it works, to give a surprisingly upbeat account of the discipline. Drawing on the history of the field and his deep experience as a practitioner, Rodrik argues that economics can be a powerful tool that improves the world--but only when economists abandon universal theories and focus on getting the context right. Economics Rules argues that the discipline's much-derided mathematical models are its true strength. Models are the tools that make economics a science. Too often, however, economists mistake a model for the model that applies everywhere and at all times

The use and misuse of economic ideas What models do The science of economics modeling Navigating among models Models and theories When economists go wrong Economics and its critics The twenty commandments