The two-century-old relationship between science, especially mathematics, and economics makes them sometimes almost consubstantial, even contradictory. As a consequence, the very definition of economics remains partly ideological. To allow for a rigorous approach and a predictive power of economic statements, a hypothetic-deductive rationale has been used, to formulate quasi-physical laws. Finance, which pervades economics today and which originally had a strong connection with mathematics, has led to an excessive and disappointing use of formalism. JEL codes: B23, G17, B41, G00, G01