Econometrics

As a method of economic analysis econometrics is a childish play with figures that does not contribute anything to the elucidation of the problems of economic reality.

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, p. 63

The specific experience with which economics and economic statistics are concerned always refers to the past. It is history, and as such does not provide knowledge about a regularity that will manifest itself also in the future.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, p. xiv

As there are in the field of social affairs no constant relations between magnitudes, no measurement is possible and economics can never become quantitative.

The Theory of Money and Credit, p. 460

Every quantity that we can observe is a historical event, a fact which cannot be fully described without specifying the time and geographical point. The econometrician is unable to disprove this fact, which cuts the ground from under his reasoning. He cannot help admitting that there are no “behavior constants.” Nonetheless he wants to introduce some numbers, arbitrarily chosen on the basis of a historical fact, as “unknown behavior constants.”

Theory and History, p. 10