The problem, Mike, is that you haven't been exposed to good economic theory.
I recollect an economic database declaring proudly that it had 90,000 papers available. Yet, modern economists don't know why, even in the richest countries, poverty is ever present. You'll notice how modern economists concentrate almost exclusively on the financial antics of our economy, apparently forgetting that the economy was going over the precipice well before the financial skullduggery became exposed. For many years I've pointed out that not only do the neo-classicals not know why there was a crash -- they didn't even know why we had a boom. I remember Samuelson's remark that any able graduate student if asked could come up with dozens of reasons for a depression. Without doubt, the neo-classicals have hundreds and probably thousands of definitive theories about the mess we are in, many of them contradictory, but this is something that happens when basic and provable concepts are rejected whimsically in favor of more complicated ego-massaging brilliancies. Harry -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 11:13 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Futurework] Re: Back cover blurb Harry wrote: > Ray, > > Perhaps you can explain to me why my "land theories" have little > connection to reality. As far as I can see, all economic theories have at best a tenuous connection to reality. Some may be tautological, some share the bizarre qualities of Ptolemaic epicycles, some have more exceptions and patches than a creationism that tries to accomodate fossils, speciation and the rest of scientific observables. But they all seem to happily sacrifice connection to reality in the pursuit of theoretical elegance. Economic theorists suffer from Physics Envy. Land? Everybody needs a place to stand. But we can (or could, when Brunner's novel was written) all "stand on Zanzibar". For the present, there's an insuperable requirement for soil to support basic food requirements. But you're not thinking of elementary physics or biological energy budgets. In general, any economic theory is about human behavior, collective human behavior in particular. But Bernays notwithstanding, people act individually. As soon as there is an approximately true generalization about collective human behavior, there will be people who try to profit from making themselves exceptions to the generalization. The only way that such economic theories, including "land theories", can be made true is through coercion or manipulation. Of course, "all generalizations are false, including this one". Ho hum. - Mike -- Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~. /V\ [email protected] /( )\ http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
