Re: Paul D. on this year's Nobel

[Mason Clark <masonc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>"[It] does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable
>to a policy.  It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the
>mind, a technique of thinking, which helps its possessor to draw CORRECT conclusions."

This notable quotation, much quoted, lends itself to illogical
criticism.

"A socket wrench set helps its possessor to correctly repair an
automobile" is true.  That economic theory *helps* draw correct
conclusions is also true. Keynes did not say that it would guarantee
correctness.  (Now would the socket wrenches guarantee a working
automobile.)

However, I --for one -- worry that economic theory too often has
helped draw *wrong conclusions* and ingrain them in the public mind.

        Mason C