We economists are trained to avoid normative judgments and opinions as to what is good and bad. Yet, contrary to what our textbooks say, economics is predominantly a normative field. Economics not only describes the world but is frequently about how the world should be (it should be effective, we have an ideal of perfect competition, an ideal of high-GDP growth in low inflation, the effort to achieve high competitiveness …). To this end, we create models, modern parables, but these unrealistic models (often intentionally) have little to do with the real world.
