I agree, Steve, that this has become "convoluted," I would suggest that the confusion
concerns how the initial message was interpreted. I entered the discussion late after it
became clear that none of the discussants was willing to volunteer to identify an error or
even to clarify what the history of error means.
  
The initial sentence in the quotation seems irrelevant to HESers. These "very talented"
Harvard Economists seem misguided if they think that the history of economics is the
history of error, at least insofar as they might be thinking about HESers. I do not recall
a contributor to this thread writing about a real error in economics. Perhaps the Harvard
chaps have in mind some other history of economics.
  
'I have heard here [Harvard] that economists in the Economics  
Department scoff at the history of economics in this question, "Why  
teach the history of error?" And, "Would they teach the history of  
medicine in the Med School?" That seems stupid to me, but these  
fellows are not stupid. How do you answer them?'  
  
  
Pat Gunning