Lars P. Syll — Game theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism

When criticising game theory you often get the rather uninformative and vacuous answer that we all have to remember that game theory — as is mainstream neoclassical theory at large — is nothing but ‘as-if-theory’ built on ‘as-if-rationality.’ As Ariel Rubinstein has it, however, this only shows that “the phrase ‘as if’ is a way to avoid taking responsibility for the strong assumptions upon which economic models are founded” …

It's bad enough when game theory is applied uncritically to economics, but when game theory is applied uncritically to military policy and strategy, as it is in nuclear deterrence based on mutual assured destruction, it becomes madness, as in "the mad scientist."

Lars P. Syll’s Blog
Game theory and the shaping of neoliberal capitalism
Lars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

This is not to say that formal approaches are useless, ill-advised, to be avoided, etc. Andrew Gelman sums it up.

Being a good person and not being a good scientist can lead to error through ignorance or inadvertence. Being a good scientist and a bad person can lead to disaster.

 The goal is to be a good person and a good scientist. The need is for good people that are very careful with their thinking, too.

Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
It’s not enough to be a good person and to be conscientious. You also need good measurement. Cargo-cult science done very conscientiously doesn’t become good science, it just falls apart from its own contradictions.

Andrew Gelman | Professor of Statistics and Political Science and Director of the Applied Statistics Center, Columbia University