Economics is sold as a “science” in university and in the greater social world. But this is a lie. I found it difficult to say why before, but now I have a powerful story which will do so for me.

A few days ago, I started my first online business. However, it was my first time, so I was scared it would failed. I was also an atheist, but I tried praying anyways.

“God, if you grant my store success, I will take it as proof that you exist.”

So I went about trying to make a profit using my store, and it worked! My store was profitable. And since it was successful, I’ve since believed that God exists.

But I wasn’t sure which God I should believe in! So I decided to start a new store: I decided to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a parody invented by Richard Dawkins in order to prove the absurdity of the idea of the “prime mover.”

Lo and behold, my store was successful once more! So now I have reason to believe that The Flying Spaghetti Monster exists. Or do I? Do correlations prove that something exists?

No, they do not! And this is the problem with economics. It doesn’t understand the thing which gives it meaning, and it assumes that things exist when they in fact may not. It postulates there are “laws” to economic behaviour (like the laws of physics) without understanding that those laws are not laws but simply just the surface level of a society much more complex than a bunch of numbers.

And since economics doesn’t seem self aware of their self-deception, economists shouldn’t be trusted.