The Consequences of Economic Rhetoric

by Arjo Klamer, Donald N. McCloskey, Robert M. Solow

Overview

The field of economics proves to be a matter of metaphor and storytelling—its mathematics is metaphoric and its policymaking is narrative. Economists have begun to realize this and to rethink how they speak. This volume is the result of a conference held at Wellesley College, involving both theoretical and applied economists, that explored the consequences of the rhetoric and the conversation of the field of economics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521342865
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/27/1989
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. Economic Rhetoric: Introduction and Comments: 1. Economics in the human conversation Arjo Klamer and Donald N. McCloskey; 2. Comments from outside economics Stanley Fish; 3. Comments from inside economics Robert M. Solow; 4. Rhetoric and ideology Robert L. Heilbroner; Part II. Economic Rhetoric: Further Arguments: 5. Marxian theory and the rhetorics of economics Stephen Resnick and Richard Wolff; 6. Economic rhetoric: the social and historical context A. W. Coats; 7. The ideas of economists Robert W. Clower; 8. Should a scientist abstain from metaphor? Christina Bicchieri; Part III. Economic Rhetoric Among Economists: 9. Shall I compare thee to a Minkowski-Ricardo-Leontief-Metzler matrix of the Mosak-Hicks type? Or, rhetoric, mathematics, and the nature of neoclassical economic theory Philip Mirowski; 10. On the brittleness of the orange equilibrium E. Roy Weintraub; 11. The significance of significance: rhetorical aspects of statistical hypothesis testing in economics Frank T. Denton; 12. The rhetoric of self-interest: ideology of gender in economic theory Nancy Folbre and Heidi Hartmann; Part IV. Economic Rhetoric in Politics and Journalism: 13. The heterogeneity of the economists' discourse: philosopher, priest, and hired gun Craufurd D. Goodwin; 14. The grammar of political economy James K. Galbraith; 15. The rhetoric of economics as viewed by a student of politics Robert O. Keohane; 16. 'Yellow rain' and 'supply-side economics': some rhetoric that failed David Warsh; Part V. Economic Rhetoric: Its Rhetoric and its Consequences: 17. Negotiating a new conversation about economics Arjo Klamer; 18. The consequences of rhetoric Donald N. McCloskey; Appendix; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The Consequences of Economic Rhetoric is an important volume, marking the true beginning of what may well become a new conversation in economics. It is a valuable start but only a start; future conferences and future volumes will ultimately be required to tell the story of this conversation." D. Wade Hands, Journal of Economic Literature

From the Publisher