Re: sociology of economic knowledge

[Eugene Coyle <eugenecoyle@xxxxxxx>]

Well, let's close "economics" departments.  Tom Walker says, from a different perspective, that criticizing "economics" makes one a crank.  Where in the USA is it permitted to teach "political economy"?  I recall a flap of some months ago where the "economists" united in an attempt to shut down the Notre Dame department == big names signing a letter to the effect that Notre Dame students wouldn'tr be admitted to "good" grad departments.  Perelman has remarked that he doubts if he could get a job these days -- don't recall the range of his possibilities.
    It is past time to contend that there is a possibility to "do good economics."

Gene Coyle

Jim Devine wrote:

Apologies to the other economists on this list, but if universities
    

have econ departments, why not Astrology, et al.?<

I gotta earn a living somehow. While I'm at it, I don't think it's
helpful to dismiss "economics" (an abstraction). Rather, the best
critique of bad economics is to do good economics (i.e., poltical
economy).

Someone said that the "war against terrorism" could only be eternal,
since you could never defeat an abstract noun. The same applies to the
abstract noun called economics.
JD