Economics & Autism

I was glad to read in the Wall Street Journal today an article about the move of economists into diverse fields such as medicine, crime, social issues, and other problems that plague our society. The article in question dealt with one person's observation that early childhood TV viewing tended to have a correlation with an autism diagnosis. I like these developments because the tools of economics are powerful analytical methods to study problems and report actual findings. My taste for this had been whetted by the reading in "Freakonomics" that I had done. To me, it's so exciting because these economists have a way of looking beyond conventional answers and looking at things as they are. They have an inner motivation to accurately classify and quantify behavior. What's so exciting is that we are beginning to look at things (medicine, science, social problems, religion) with fact. It's neat to me that an empirical observation of the Christian faith (from a psychological standpoint or a cause-effect standpoint or a "the way things actually play out" standpoint) reveals the real reliability of its claims. Truth is not the enemy of safety, but the proponent of it. That is why I think trials are so good. They shine light on something, and that something can be quite good. Like Abraham being asked to offer up his only son, Isaac. It showed something very good, namely Abraham's faith. Truth is not to be avoided.

So anyways it was an exciting development and one that I hope will continue. The fact that they are outside their "assigned areas" excites me all the more, because they are using good tools from one area and applying them to another. Critics have their fears, but the reality has been that these researchers have shed valuable light on areas heretofore untouched by a squeamish society afraid to look at hard topics.