by Lars P. SyllCausality in social sciences - and economics - can never solely be a question of statistical inference. Causality entails more than predictability, and requires theory to really explain social phenomena in depth. Analysis of variation - the foundation of all econometrics - can never in itself reveal how these variations are brought about.
by Lars P. SyllOne of the limitations with economics is the restricted possibility to perform experiments, forcing it to mainly rely on observational studies for knowledge of real-world economies.