Conditional form and meaning in economics text

Abstract

The paper analyses economics text and examines the range meanings conveyed by the simple conditional form (if + noun phrase + verb phrase [verb present/modal + verb] + … and the expression of conditional meaning. The data comes from a well known introductory textbook. The author of the book claims the status of a science for his subject and argues that scientific predictions in economics have a recognisable form: if + noun phrase + verb phrase [verb present] + then + noun phrase + verb phrase [verb future],as in “if you do this then such and such will follow”. But examples from his own work belie this. We show, firstly, that economics predictions are expressed by a range of conditional and nonconditional forms. Secondly, these same conditional forms (including that expressing a prediction) are used to realise a number of functions. These functions are classified and discussed. It is concluded that the relationships between economic concepts and their verbal expressions cannot be precisely correlated. And both teachers of English for economics and teachers of economics need to recognise this lack of correlation as a source of difficulty for their students.