Esta resulta ser la última sesión del Seminario de filosofía de la economía del presente año, y así concluimos, de forma encumbrada, nuestro ya cuarto ciclo de vida; esperando (y trabajando en ello) que el próximo sea un año todavía mas alentador y estimulante para este trabajo interdisciplinario que venimos realizando horizontalmente en conjunto entre los asistentes y los especialistas invitados.
Luis Mireles Flores nos dará una charla sobre el uso de evidencia empírica para justificar las generalizaciones sobre el libre comercio. Revisaremos un working paper que servirá como base para la discusión:
“Does free trade really work? How well-established scientific generalisations can be policy useless” Dr. Luis Mireles Flores (TINT, University of Helsinki)
Abstract: I analyse the epistemic import of the empirical research on the effects of trade liberalisation, and evaluate whether such studies can be of any use to generate reliable policies in real-world economies. I argue that even if there is scientific evidence that allows economists to believe there is a causal connection between free trade and economic gains, none of the existing evidence licences trustworthy inferences about the effectiveness of specific trade policy reforms. I discuss three aspects of the empirical literature, which are highly problematic for policy purposes: the criteria used to account for the notion of ‘free trade’, the logic and assumptions embedded in the econometric techniques to estimate causal effects, and the widespread longing among academic economists to attain scientific results in terms of “universally valid” generalisations. I conclude with a proposal about how to redirect the focus of empirical research to improve its policy relevance and reliability at a local level.
Seminario de Filosofía de la Economía 