Economics Never Was A Dismal Science. It

Econometrics May Be Defined As The Quantitative Analysis Of Actual Economic Phenomena Based On The Concurrent Development Of Theory And Observation, Related By Appropriate Methods Of Inference.

An American Economist Of Two Generations Ago, H. J. Davenport, Who Was The Best Friend Thorstein Veblen Ever Had (veblen Actually Lived For A Time In Davenport's Coal Cellar) Once Said: "there Is No Reason Why Theoretical Economics Should Be A Monopoly Of The Reactionaries." All My Life I Have Tried To Take This Warning To Heart, And I Dare Call It To Your Favorable Attention.

To Prove That Wall Street Is An Early Omen Of Movements Still To Come In Gnp, Commentators Quote Economic Studies Alleging That Market Downturns Predicted Four Out Of The Last Five Recessions. That Is An Understatement. Wall Street Indexes Predicted Nine Out Of The Last Five Recessions! And Its Mistakes Were Beauties.

Anyone With Special Abilities Earns A Differential Return On That Flair, Which We Economists Call A Rent. Those Few With Extraordinary P.q. (performance Quotient) Will Not Give Away Such Rent To The Ford Foundation Or The Local Bank Trust Department. They Have Too High An I.q. For That.

Marshall's Crime Is To Pretend To Handle Imperfect Competition With Tools Only Applicable To Perfect Competition.