================== 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. ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]