Marginalism Dwindles in AI Age

A leading economist argues that the intellectual framework known as marginalism — the focus on incremental tradeoffs underlying much of modern economics — will lose centrality as artificial intelligence changes how research is generated, validated, and applied. The shift will affect what economists study, how they are trained, and which institutions hold epistemic authority. — If true, this would reshape economic education, policy advice, and institutional incentives across universities, think tanks, and government during the AI transition.