John Bates Clark once said that "natural" theories were necessarily static.
On Tue, Aug 27, 2002 at 06:40:42AM -0700, Devine, James wrote: > Saying that a phenomenon is "natural" is a much less scientific way of > describing something than doing so in simple descriptive terms (which > are more coherent or systematic). The term "natural" implies "you can't > mess with Mother Nature" and stuff like that -- or that somehow Adam > Smith's "natural liberty" exists. Economists use the word "natural" in > an mystical way, as part of the Holy Cult of the Invisible Hand. > JD > > -----Original Message----- > From: Tom Walker > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 8/26/2002 4:59 PM > Subject: [PEN-L:29889] Re: Bushies say NAIRU is 4.9 > > I'll admit as much as "more coherent" or "more systematic" but "more > scientific?" That's like saying one astrologer is more scientific than > another. > > > Jim Devine wrote, > > "The NAIRU is a more-scientific way to describe what Milton Friedman > calls > "the natural rate of unemployment." His idea is that the economy > gravitates > toward the natural rate unless the government or central bank screws > things > up. > > Tom Walker > 604 254 0470 -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
