On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 1:06 PM, Pat Gunning <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> What I find remarkable about the DeLong's comment that Humberto posted is
> his implicit view that students should learn MODELS. The real lesson of
> recent events, it seems to me, is that in spite of 50 years of teaching
> models; there is no model that matches the reality that was experienced.
>

What I find remarkable is that Pat Gunning, and perhaps some others on
this list, have a view of "models" that is hopelessly confused and at
least a quarter century out of date.

For a short reading guide, Pat and others might consult:


Models as Mediators: Perspectives on Natural and Social Science by
Mary Morgan and Margaret Morrison (eds.) 1999
"Models" (2008) by Mary S. Morgan in The New Palgrave Dictionary of
Economics, 2nd edition, eds: S.N. Durlauf and L.E. Blume (Palgrave
Macmillan), online.
Models: The Third Dimension of Science by de Chadarevian and Hopwood (2004)
Science Without Laws: Model Systems, Cases, and Exemplary Narratives
by Creager, Lunbeck and Wise (eds.) 2007

Since Morgan is a past President of HES, one would have thought that
her work was fully known by all in HES, but I guess not.

-- 
E. Roy Weintraub
Professor of Economics
Fellow, Center for the History of Political Economy
Duke University
www.econ.duke.edu/~erw/erw.homepage.html