econometrics

The application of statistical and mathematical methods in the field of economics to test and quantify economic theories and the solutions to economic problems.

It is similar to the field of Physics in that one of the major goals is to search for a unified theory - the unification of the theoretical-quantitative and empirical-quantitative approach to economic problems.

In other words, the search for the application of mathematical models to one of the most complex subjects-- human behavior and social ills.

We will save the world not though God, but through Mathematics, as they are one and the same.

Also (in the defense field) the practice of applying economic modeling to defense analysis problems, specifically those involving system performance and evaluation. Introduced by SecDef Robert McNamara (a big-business executive) as a method (ostensibly) of better evaluating defense-related proposals.

However, in reality, it served mostly (as McNamara and cronies have since admitted) to obfuscate the actual process of evaluating systems, allowing McNamara's preferences to remain ascendant in decisionmaking. This is because it took the military services and other analysts some time to figure out just what the heck McNamara and co. were doing in their analyses, making it difficult to argue with them - winning arguments by obfuscation, essentially.

The RAND corporation was one of the chief purveyors of such studies. However, they actually managed to get the things mostly right, which is one reason McNamara and co. stopped 'liking' RAND studies.