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Fri Mar 31 17:19:18 2006 |
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================== HES POSTING =======================
Dear HES-ers: Today I received the latest JEL, and was initially
delighted to read on the cover that it contained an article on "The
Economics of Science" AND one on "Economics and Psychology: Lessons
for our Own Day from the Early Twentieth Century". Surely good
evidence of generalist interest in topics usually relegated to the
history of thought/methodology crowd. My optimism soaring, I then
looked at the articles....
The first was not on the topic I hoped: it was a "straight economics"
handling of issues like the funding of science, reward structures,
and the like. But much worse, it had no idea that there was another
part of economics concerned with the economics of science. Neither
Sent nor Mirowski (nor Peirce) mentioned; nor any of the philosophical
lit; though Merton and Polanyi did manage to get cited.
The second was better. But Bob Coats' superb piece "Economics and
Psychology: Death and Resurrection of a Research Program," in the
1976 Latsis volume METHOD AND APPRAISAL IN ECONOMICS and which covers
the exact same territory, goes uncited. Nor are any historians of
thought (with whom I'm familiar, anyway) thanked, though people like
Gary Becker are. An earlier paper was supposedly "widely circulated"
and this one was presented at the Kress seminar - so how is it
possible that Coats' seminal earlier treatment was missed?
So has it come to this: that history of thought will go undone
within the profession, except for the rare instance when it is done
by someone with no idea that a secondary literature by historians of
thought exists? I realize this is an overreaction and is unfair to
the author of the second piece, whom I do not know; but the symbolic
weight of the one-two punch I just received is almost enough to make
me agree with Roy Weintraub. (Which probably is enough to make him
reconsider his position.) ;-}
Have a nice weekend. Bruce C.
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