Issue 17, Fall 1999

William A. McEachern, Editor

And I Quote!

Many Web pages open with a boldfaced quote by or about economics. Leading the quote parade is Keynes with "The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to 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." The second leading quote is also from Keynes: "Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."

Others quoted include Marshall, Knight, Samuelson, Heilbroner, Thomas Carlyle, Edmund Burke, C. Northcote Parkinson (of Parkinson's Law fame), and Harry Truman. Although many of the quotes are familiar to economists, some won't mean much to students. For example, what should students make of Carlyle's comment about the "dismal science," or Truman's call for a "one-armed economist?" These words just float on the screen with no explanation about why economics was considered the dismal science or why Truman wanted a one-armed economist. This minimalism reminds me of the shorthand economists often use with one another. We often cite examples that resonate with other economists but not with students. This approach is akin to the prisoners who became so familiar with each other's jokes that they numbered them and would "tell" a joke simply by calling out its number.

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