I don't think Maxwell was agreeing with McCloud. I think he was sneering at him.
Phil's point is that economic has no conservation principle, creating a gulf between economics & physics. As a result, economics presents a model of unlimited growth, something that Geogrescu-Roegen emphasized, but his work his much less influence than it deserved. Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael dot perelman at gmail.com Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901 www.michaelperelman.wordpress.com From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Julio Huato Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 6:00 PM To: Progressive Economics Subject: Re: [Pen-l] Mirowski & physics envy Maxwell says that physics, like economics, is all about bookkeeping. I think that is a bit of a confusion, but there is a sense in which the comparison is apt. Yet Mirowski seems baffled by the application of the conservation principle to in economics. What is conserved? -- he asks. :-) On Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 8:45 PM, michael perelman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Julio asked on Doug Henwood's Facebook page about what value the concept of Physics Envy might be. I thought that the way that he shows how economists tried to get physicists to endorse their work is very valuable. 354: "In a letter to an English economist named Henry MacLeod, who courted obscurity by comparing economics to physics without sufficient scientific background or academic influence to establish a research school, the much less obscure physicist James Clerk Maxwell confessed: "We are in the same boat .... [I]nstead of reducing economics to physics, I endeavour to impress upon beginners in physics the principles of book keeping" (H. D. MacLeod, An Address to the Board of Electors to the Professorship of Political Economy in the University of Cambridge [London, 1884], p. 12). -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 530 898 5321<tel:530%20898%205321> fax 530 898 5901<tel:530%20898%205901> http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
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