"Can we all agree on these?"

That's the question that Dani Rodrik asks here, about a few affirmations about trade and prices. One in particular caught my attention: The Carlos Diaz-Alejandro rule:

"For almost any particular conclusion you want to arrive at, there is some economic model that will take you there."

My first reaction: to get shocked. But then, I read Rodrik saying:

"The positive spin: This does not diminish the value of economic modeling; it simply means we have to be more careful with generalizations and be more explicit about the assumptions that lie behind our reasoning."

The last sentence relieves a little bit the initial shock, but can't take away all the "fear" anyway. "Fear", of not being sure about the inference that can be done from economics: Wich model should I use? Wich not? How do I choose the assumptions I make? How do I know if I can make generalizations from my model? All this remind me of a previos post, on economic modelling and math.

As tomorrow I'll dedicate the entire day to define the model for my Thesis, I hope this stuff doesn't give me nightmares tonight!