In a message dated 6/19/00 2:17:56 PM Central Daylight Time, rhanson@gmu.edu
writes:
> Actually, the "dismal science" was what in 1849 Thomas Carlyle called
> economics because economists were against racial slavery. Economists
> had long tried to explain variations in behavior in terms of institutions
> and incentives, and assumed that people were for the most part pretty much
> the same. For more, see http://www.fee.org/iol/00/0003/levy.html
Since I'm forever reminding folks of the context of Richard III's "First,
let's kill all the lawyers," I suppose it's only fair that you should give us
the original context of the monkier "the dismal science". Still (and this is
probably why I'm not as rich as I should be), I chafe at seeing life as
valued in dollars (this from a person who worked for years on wrongful death
and personal injury cases in which I did just that).
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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