================= HES POSTING ================= 
 
Greetings to all, 
 
I'm interested in history of thought, but not an expert, so I listen and 
contribute rarely.  Here it goes ... 
 
I took my degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1981.  There was no 
requirement for history of thought, economic history, or institutional 
economics (while Wisconsin was home of institutionalism for years!).  My 
field was industrial organization, and I had the chance to read some of 
Stigler's work for my dissertation research. 
 
Again, as a non-historian of thought, here are some impressions.  It seems 
to me that Chicago economists generally, and Stigler is included, have 
pursued a policy agenda, and used economic methodology as support for that 
agenda. The kinked demand curve is a clear example of that. IF the kinked 
demand curve is valid, THEN prices are not perfectly flexible, AND some 
sort of government involvement (even minimal Keynesian demand stimulation) 
can be justified.  BECAUSE we don't like the policy implications, THEREFORE 
we reject the model.  Again, it's my impression that this is so. 
 
Drawing from a book which I am using to prepare for my current I.O. section 
consider this:  "The central view of Chicago school microeconomic analysis 
is that the model of competitive markets in long-run equilibrium is 
sufficient to explain real-world phenomena.  ...  In most scientific 
endeavors, it is usual to confront theory with evidence. The Chicago school 
reverses this methodology, and confronts evidence with theory."  Stephen 
Martin, _Advanced Industrial Economics_, Blackwell Publishers, 1993, pp. 
9-10. 
 
This posting may set off a flurry of responses from Chicago (and other) 
types.  We'll see. 
 
John Dodge 
 
 
***PostScript from the moderator: Some of the discussion has moved away 
from the editorial and towards Stigler. I'm starting a new thread for these 
discussions (under HES: DISC: Stigler) and won't archive them on the 
editorial site any longer. Discussions that do refer to the issues 
addressed in the editorial will continue to be archived at: 
 
http://cs.muohio.edu/~HisEcSoc/Resources/Editorials/Weintraub. 
 
As you probably know, all HES messages are archived at: 
 
http://cs.muohio.edu/Archives/hes/. 
 
The HES editorial team is working on the problem that the archiving program 
stopped recognizing treads. --Esther-Mirjam Sent*** 
 
============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ 
For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]