In Defense of Cranks

[Brian Eggleston <egglesto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> Why is it that this group has attracted such a vast supply of cranks? Even
> the various Marxism lists - and God knows that Marxism has attracted more
> than its share of nuts over the years, especially recent years, when Old
> Whiskers has gone so deeply out of fashion - have a lower population of
> wackos than does PKT. Is Keynes even more deeply out of fashion than Marx?
> Is Keynes merely an upscale crank? Inquiring minds want to know...
>
> Doug
>
> --
>
> Doug Henwood
> Left Business Observer
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Somewhere Robinson (her '72 "Second Crisis"?) offers a defense of
cranks.  I don't remember the exact quote but it's something to
the effect that "at least the cranks recognize there is a problem".
Perhaps the proliferation of cranks is thus an indication of the
magnitude of underlying difficulties in the discipline.

Brian Eggleston
Augustana College