>On Tue, 14 Feb 1995, Doug Henwood wrote: > >> When did economists start (over)using the word "story"? Anyone know the >> pedigree of turn of phrase? Allin responded > >I can't give a history, but I take Doug's point. Seems to me the term >'story' is very much part of the 'model'/'story' pair. That is, >neoclassical econ having become excessively enamoured of mathematical >models -- to the point where their manipulation becomes the sole truly >legitimate occupation of the professional economist -- any attempt to >motivate such models by reference to certain features of the real, or >to interpret the results obtained in terms of real processes, is set >off as 'story'-telling. > I concur. I seem to recall hearing "I want to tell a story in which ..." as a means of exposition of a mathematical model in the '70's, very much ex ante McCloskey. But I don't share the alarm others have expressed at either math or storytelling. As to Marxist reproduction thinking, there are stories in which the end is the beginning. This is pretty common in myth. (Understand, we post-postmodernists do not attach any stigma to the word "myth." Or any myth to the word "stigma," either). It's a matter of choosing the narrative frame that expresses the ideas you have in mind. Roger A. McCain Director, Honors Program, and Professor, Economics 5016 MacAlister Hall, Drexel University Philadelphia, PA, 19104 voice 215-895-1267 email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] World-Wide Web at http://www.honors.drexel.edu/HPHP.html
