I forget the details, but Marx's account of the (in)famous 12th-hour being the whole profit (or some such figure) is parallel to this and illuminating.
First, there is the 1 2 or 12+ hour day; then there is growing resistance, _then_ an economist comes up (probably "sincerely") with a theoretical justification of that 1th hour (or final quarter hour or whatever). The "theory" is _after_ the fact, and has no causative power. And because it has no causative power to begin with a refutation of the theory has no causative power. Qualification: It is less "psychologically" difficult to fight for X if there is a theory hanging around that justifies or seems to justify X. In the present instance, Austerity is simply Reality. Even if Reinhart And Rogof themselves openly repudiate their theory it will not add 10 cents to the next federal budget. And if a scattering of economists continue to provide some (pseudo)rationale for Austerity that will provide sufficient morale for governments to continue the policy. But such a theoretical defeat of Reinhart And Rogof will not, in itself, have any impact whatever on policy. Carrol _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
