On 6/21/02 Peter J Boettke wrote: >I don't think that either of you has dealt with McCloskey's kelly green golf >shoes criticism of economics. Why be so complacent about the consumer >preferences currently expressed in the market?
I think all we've said is that in a competitive industry where entry is easy enough, there's not much point in advocating that firms adopt technologies that are easy to try and have widely been tried. If they're not being used, its probably because they're not so great, because there's a market failure, or because consumers have the "wrong" preferences. I'd be happy if more others shared our preferences, I'll do my part to preach to accomplish this, and I do think that preaching helps. But its damn hard. >I would be interested in hearing the reasons why we should presume that >preferences are being accurately conveyed in this "market" in the absence of >the institutions of property, prices and profit and loss. You keep saying this, but academia seems to me to have all these institutions. Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
