====================== HES POSTING =================== I don't know about Plumptre's paper, but Robertson made the same criticism of Keynes in characteristically witty terms when he said the Keynesian theory of interest rates was "a grin without a cat" --referring to the Chesire cat in his beloved Alice. I find this dispute between Keynes and Robertson extremely interesting, because I think that Keynes' real legacy to economics was his willingness to take seriously "bootstrapping" explanations of economic realities. Here it was his theory of interest rate determination. His chapter on the stock market is even more obviously a bootstrap theory of stock prices. And Robertson's incredulity at the idea that there may be no "fundamentals" ruling the roost is echoed in the practice of many modern classical economists who almost instinctively rule out "non-fundamental" or "bubble" solutions as, at best, curiosities (that kill the cat?). Kevin Quinn [log in to unmask] ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]