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At 04:08 PM 4/20/2001 -0400, Faustine wrote:
> I still think the quickest way to get a firm technical grasp of
> micro and macro economics is to sit down and work through problems
> for yourself with textbooks like Samuelson's and Krugman's,
> respectively.
Had one done this fifteen years ago, one would have received a woefully
inaccurate account of the Soviet Union.
One would have received a far more accurate and up to date account of the
problems of price control and central planning by listening to old Reagan
speeches, than by reading Samuelson.
Samuelson is good. But he is not good on topics that disturb the
politically correct. Indeed no book that is good on such topics is likely
to be widely adopted by universities and colleges.
> If you don't have the ability to analyze and critique any work 'from
> it's underbelly', so to speak, you're basically stuck taking someone
> else's word about their conclusions.
You are implying that libertarian analysis is unscientific and not
academically respectable. But much of it, most famously that by David
Friedman, is as hard core as anyone would wish, and on certain topics, it
is a lot more hard core than most universities would prefer.
> When it comes down to a question of partisans and ideologues versus
> analysts and scientists, I think we all know where to put our money.
You are claiming that libertarian economists are partisans and ideologues,
and that those dispute their position are analysists and scientists.
If you compare Milton Friedman and David Friedman with Samuelson on topics
on which they used to disagree, it is clear who was being more analytic and
scientific.
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James A. Donald
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We have the right to defend ourselves and our property, because
of the kind of animals that we are. True law derives from this
right, not from the arbitrary power of the omnipotent state.
http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ James A. Donald
