Re: econometrics & economics (was Re: [Fwd: nobel])

[Ben Day <day@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 02:38 PM 10/10/2002 -0400, Clifford Poirot wrote:
> I think I would be inclined to agree with Paul about the utility of
> econometrics as a means of empirical observation save in very limited ways.
> That is not to argue against quantification per se. On the whole, I would
> argue the very best analysis of the Great Depression is Kindleberger's "The
> World in Depression". It is far superior to either Temin's or Friedman's
> works on the Great dDepression. Kindleberger did not use one econometric
> equation, while Friedman and Temin devoted great efforts to econometrics.

It's very interesting to trace the rise of econometric analysis within the
economics profession with respect to institutional analysis. The following
is a quote from Gunnar Myrdal (from the American Economic Review, 1972):

"When I first came to America at the very end of the 1920s... the 'wind of
the future' was institutional economics... At that time I was utterly
critical of this new orientation of economics. I was in the 'theoretical'
stage of my personal development as an economist. I even had something to
do with the initiation of the Econometric Society, which was planned as a
defense organisation against the institutionalists."

----Ben