Keynes on models and economics
from Lars Syll
Economics is a science of thinking in terms of models joined to the art of choosing models which are relevant to the contemporary world. It is compelled to be this, because, unlike the typical natural science, the material to which it is applied is, in too many respects, not homogeneous through time … I also want to emphasise strongly the point about economics being a moral science. I mentioned before that it deals with introspection and with values. I might have added that it deals with motives, expectations, psychological uncertainties. One has to be constantly on guard against treating the material as constant and homogeneous. It is as though the fall of the apple to the ground depended on the apple’s motives, on whether it is worth while falling to the ground, and whether the ground wanted the apple to fall, and on mistaken calculations of the apple as to how far it was from the centre of the earth.
John Maynard Keynes (letter to Harrod, 1938)
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—— Ugarteche, Puyana and Madi ——
Gerson Lima / Maria Alejandra Madi
Edward Fullbrook and Jamie Morgan
————— Michael Hudson ————–
Maria Alejandra Madi / Jack Reardon
————- Edward Fullbrook ————-
—————— Steve Keen —————–
————— Richard Smith —————
————– Gustavo Marques————
– Victor Beker and Beniamino Moro –
————– Lars Pålsson Syll ————-
—————– Stuart Birks —————-
Edward Fullbrook and Jamie Morgan
———— Armando Ochangco ———-
Shimshon Bichler / Jonathan Nitzan
————— Mauro Gallegati ————–
————— Herman Daly —————-
————— Asad Zaman —————
—————– C. T. Kurien —————
————— Robert Locke —————-
Did Keynes deny his word? Or did he consider it valid in spite of various preferable conditions and aspirations? Or did he want to reject economics as science as a whole?
I do not consider that this kind of citation contributes to a serious thinking that aims the progress of economics (including rejection of neoclassical economics).
Shiozawa, a one eyed archer seldom hits their target; especially if it is dynamic and moving, like a real-world economy of living human beings. Cherry picking quotations and leaving off half-sentences only leads to out-of-context half-truths. Wouldn’t it be more correct to cite the full sentence rather than citing half the sentence?
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I do not consider that this kind of citation contributes to a serious thinking, but only exemplifies self-serving carping critics willingness to misquote and misrepresent meanings and values.
Keynes was mostly right. It’s interesting to see how much of his thinking got left out of modern economic theory. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982920610/?coliid=I1WZ7N8N3CO77R&colid=3VCPCHTITCQDJ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it