Re: Response to Thorton Wheeler

[Thornton Wheeler <twheeler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 23 Sep 1995, RICHARD P.F. HOLT wrote:

> Greg Ransom writes:
>
> "The real question is, however, why are economists tempted to try to make
> the words do work of this sort -- why do they need to push language into
> holiday mode in order to fit the pre-conscieved [sic] picture they have of
> how to explain things?"
>
> Because words have political and ideological power. I don't know what's
> so "natural" about the natural rate of interest or the natural rate of
> unemployment, but it fits quite nicely in the methodological and
> ideological view that interest rates and unemployment are part of a
> natural "steady-state" economy.
> -Ric Holt
>

PKT:

I appreciate the many comments in response to my emphasis on viewing
self-interest in its holistic context. I quote:

"... the philosphes who talked of natural rights were relying on the
sound assumption that men have everywhere certain needs in common, and
that these are spiritual as well as material."

This is not from the Christain Coalition or Rush Limbaugh, but from
Kingsley Martin in "French Liberal Thought of the Eighteenth Century" on
p.133. "God" often meant "Nature" in Enlightenment thought.

If we exclude the need to give as a fundamental element of self-interest,
we as economists and scholars of economics, will fail in our efforts to
improve human conditions.

Self-interest, in this holistic context, condems marketeers who have no
regard for the people who work for them or the environment in which they
apply their efforts.  Because all people are capable of benevolence, it
goes contrary to conflict theory as expressed by Marxism.  Marx does
address the issue by concluding that if man's material needs are met, he
will be able to pursue more worthwhile goals.

I see no reason why self-interest, if applied in this context, would prevent
government from being a means by which benevolence can be distributed.
Both FDR's and JMK's live's were exemplary of their devotion to improve
the human condition by these means.  Both worked themselves into early
graves to do so.  There are broader concerns here. According to
Churchill, "... we make a living by what we get.....and a life by what we
give."

Thornton Wheeler