Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Readable economists
The Economist writes about the legacy of MIT economist, Charles Kindleberger, an eminently readable practitioner of the dismal science, in the mould of a Galbraith or a Krugman. In particular, it addresses Kindleberger's interest in bubble economics, especially at a time when the uber-rational theories held sway.
A self-confessed “literary economist”, Mr Kindleberger, a professor at MIT and the author of more than 30 books, was a critic of the growing reliance of the economics profession on mathematics and on what he regarded as over-narrow rational models of human behaviour. Only a few years ago, his work would have been praised more for its readability than its insights. But he lived to see his best-known book become essential reading on Wall Street and be cited approvingly by younger, more mathematically inclined academics.
Now, if only someone could persuade the rest of them social scientists to become a tad more readable. They might actually find an audience beyond the usual eleven, all of whom reside in the same ivory tower or are being coerced :)
A self-confessed “literary economist”, Mr Kindleberger, a professor at MIT and the author of more than 30 books, was a critic of the growing reliance of the economics profession on mathematics and on what he regarded as over-narrow rational models of human behaviour. Only a few years ago, his work would have been praised more for its readability than its insights. But he lived to see his best-known book become essential reading on Wall Street and be cited approvingly by younger, more mathematically inclined academics.
Now, if only someone could persuade the rest of them social scientists to become a tad more readable. They might actually find an audience beyond the usual eleven, all of whom reside in the same ivory tower or are being coerced :)
