Economics and quantitative economics: A defence

The purpose of the paper is to discuss quantitative work in economics, especially in relation to problems of macro-economic policy. It is argued that many recent criticisms of economics are not well founded, and it is certainly not the case that what is wrong with economics is its quantitative bias. Quite the contrary; in a number of areas more quantitative work is required. The use of control theory methods should be welcomed by economists, but these need not be introduced to the exclusion of other methods. Finally, some suggestions are made for further research.