On Wednesday, November 30, 2005 2:02 PM [PDT], Walt Byars <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I think that is a terrible manifesto. Is calling NC economists "old > goats" really going to help anything? As in ""help" the planet? Or help maintain the status quo & "power elite"? How do you mean ...help? ...And is "dangerous old goats..." too severe? > > Furthermore, none of their specific qualms have anyhting to do with NC > economics. It may be true that many NC economists downplay > environmental externalities, or give too much importance to GDP, but > there is absolutely nothing inherent to NC economics which would make > people do such things. Giving attention to externalities or not > thinking the GDP (which is officially just a measure of the value of > goods and services produced) is the be all end all of well being is > in no way inconsistent with neoclassical economics. Isn't NC > economics just more or less the belief that the price of a good is > (tending towards?) the (ex ante) value to the buyer of the marginal > unit? (or that it would in the absence of some information > constraints, coordination failures etc...) > > Perhaps it would be justified to use that harsh rhetoric towards NC > economics if the content of the manifesto accused economists of > ignoring reswitching, administered prices, falling rate of profit, > etc... Here's one way of looking at it: Every time a tree falls... the GNP goes up Every time a cancer patient is diagnosed... the GNP goes up. Every pandemic... Every war... the GNP goes up. There's fraud in there somewhere. You might ask: "Is this any way to measure progress?" There's scant resistance in the Econimonicom(?) for these techniques, GNP, GDP... et al. Economists in academia AND business are absolutely culpable due to the dis-ease called self-preservation and perhaps even pandering. Name one universally known economist (or economic commentator) who has a backbone. Krugman's just a start... albeit a good one. Adbusters says nail the manifesto to the Dept Head's door. Some would say their forehead's a more appropriate place.. How about pulling their pants down in Trafalgar Square? Leigh www.leighm.net Have you seen my newsfeeds?: http://leighmdotnet.blogspot.com/ Got RSS?: http://www.furl.net/members/leighm/rss.xml
