Few Western economists think they know all the answers...
But they do think they know the methodology that will get them the right answers eventually. It boils down to
1/ Write down a model, which is unknown up to a vector of parameters
2/ Use economic theory (e.g. assumptions about rationality) to restrict the parameter space
3/ Use data to estimate the model
4/ Draw conclusions from the estimates
In principle, that's OK. But the analysis can go very wrong at any one of those steps.
There are also many, many ways to understand complex phenomena that don't go via steps 1-4. Attempting to use that methodology in fields such as biology, psychology, or anthropology would often yield lousy results (though not always). It's not at all clear that it's the definitive method through which to understand the economy.
But they do think they know the methodology that will get them the right answers eventually. It boils down to
1/ Write down a model, which is unknown up to a vector of parameters
2/ Use economic theory (e.g. assumptions about rationality) to restrict the parameter space
3/ Use data to estimate the model
4/ Draw conclusions from the estimates
In principle, that's OK. But the analysis can go very wrong at any one of those steps.
There are also many, many ways to understand complex phenomena that don't go via steps 1-4. Attempting to use that methodology in fields such as biology, psychology, or anthropology would often yield lousy results (though not always). It's not at all clear that it's the definitive method through which to understand the economy.