What are the advantages and disadvantages of using maths in economics?
The advantage is that economic calculation in terms of money enables us to compare incommensurate things by using a common denominator – money prices. This enables us to calculate the most economical way of doing things, even with totally unrelated things, for example, to compare the productivity of using tractors to make apples, using cows to make milk, and using machines to make metal brackets. We can figure out which is more profitable a use of capital, and we can figure out which is a more economical way to get something done, for example whether to make a house from timber or steel. As the purpose of all economic activity is to satisfy the person’s priority wants with the least waste of resources, economic calculation is indispensable to a modern economy. The disadvantage of using maths is that economics is the study of market phenomena, especially prices. But *all* prices are the result of people’s subjective judgments. The subjective satisfaction – “utility” – cannot be measured
