In the Austrian economics tradition the point of the argument has always
been that indifference is impossible to observe in action. Choice
always implies ranking - thus indifference curves are verbotten.
See Bryan's SEJ article for a critique. Note that the Austrians,
i.e. those who take this sort of position on indifference curves, have
never been able to show that the indifference curve argument leads to
false conclusions. See again Bryan's article and, should you be
interested, my note on the preferred tax type in the Review of Austrian
Economics (v.5, #2).
The argument may be used differently in other traditions.
Alex
--
Dr. Alexander Tabarrok
Vice President and Director of Research
The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way
Oakland, CA, 94621-1428
Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
