Barry Ickes (guest) meinte am 16. Nov, 22:19:
Logic
You seem to equate style with logic. I don't understand how you can make this connection. You report that: "I remember one economist saying he liked Friedman's style of doing economics better than Samuelson's but he agreed more with Samuelson than Friedman. That said a lot--to me, anyway--about how logical argument relates to truth."
Samuelson's style was more mathematical, Friedman's less. What does that have to do with the relationship between logical argument and truth. The person probably just hated math.
How does that follow?
HedgeFundGuy antwortete am 16. Nov, 22:46:
Because I think for most people, even most economists, rhetoric is about proving what you believe, not vice versa. Very very few economists have been persuaded to believe or disbelieve in the Invisible Hand via the first or second welfare theorem as proved in Debreu's Theory of Value. I remember being a TA for Robert Eisner, and he told me he got into economics after being involved with helping organized labor, and wouldn't you know it he spent his academic career trying to prove the benefits of Big Labor and Big Government.
