I suspect that the answer would have to be that textbooks are indeed
systematically false, assuming, as Bruce Littleboy suggests, that a
single truth exists that textbooks could reflect.  Yes, textbooks are
necessarily written by the winners because publishers want products
with wide appeal.  Yes, economic theory is subject to fads.  Remember
Rational Expectations.  Try publishing a macro principles text without
an aggregate supply – aggregate demand graph, although many of us
doubt whether it is of any use or not.

Of course, truth is out of the question.  Every economist has his or
her own quirky way of looking at the world.  Some even make mistakes.
The problem is magnified because economists themselves are not
consistent.

Given that our subjects are imperfect, our own imperfections magnify
the distance from any presumed truth.  Bruce Littleboy seems to
complain that the textbooks do not reflect his own version truth.  I
could register the same complaint, but I challenge anybody to produce
a textbook that would satisfy both of us.


-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

530 898 5321
fax 530 898 5901
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com