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Economics runs at a snail's pace because money's "evil" and it's a "social science" and "not precise like physics". Anyone with those viewpoints, please spare me your comments and answers.

That being said, does anyone have any theories what the demand curve equation should generally look like based upon empirical data? If anyone needs a set of data-points, I'll be happy to provide it, but I'm hoping there's someone out there who's looked at some data sets and has an idea what the general form could be.

Again, please no nonsense replies about how economics isn't a science or how it's hopelessly imprecise. That kind of ignorance is no help.

Many thanks in advance!

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Isn't it linear? You could make it exponential of course, it depends on your data. How about laws of supply and demand? – glebovg Nov 9 '12 at 3:39
No. It's taught as linear. All empirical data I have shows it to be some sort of logarithm, but it doesn't "perfectly" fit. I've tried every variation of decay that I can find but to no avail. Considering the asymptotic nature of finance, that seems the way to go, but nothing fits, and it keeps me up at night. ;)) – Sulla Nov 9 '12 at 3:49

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According to current laws of supply and demand, in general, it is either linear or exponential. However, it does vary based on different goods. Economics is a science but it heavily relies on data and many assumptions like rationality. Also, many economists believe every human being simply wants to maximize utility etc. Trust me, if you show that the demand curve is not linear or exponential (in general) you will win the Nobel Prize.

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Heh, you can keep the Nobel, I just want the answer for better modeling. I appreciate the reply. I don't want to get into a "school of thought" debate from Keyenesian to Hayekian. Should I post a data set? Is it possible to post data? Thanks again! – Sulla Nov 9 '12 at 3:54

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