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Published in:
2007 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Taming Economists
Author : Michael Perelman
Published in: The Confiscation of American Prosperity
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US
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John Maynard Keynes once recalled an encounter with Max Planck, an originator of quantum theory. Planck told Keynes that he had considered studying economics when he was young, but he found the subject too difficult (Keynes 1924, fn 186). How in the world could Professor Planck, whose work rivaled that of Albert Einstein, be intimidated by the study of economics? Keynes himself suggested an answer to that question in a letter to a fellow economist: “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” (Keynes 1938, 296).