This month marks the 50th anniversary of the original publication of one of the most insightful economics essays ever penned — "I, Pencil." It wasn’t written by a professional economist; it was written by Leonard E. Read, founder and long-time president of the Foundation for Economic Education.
Although Read was no professional economist, his understanding of the way market economies work, and his ability to explain that logic in clear and compelling terms, far surpasses that of all but a tiny handful of PhD-sporting economists.
Podcast RSS Feed
Full EconTalk Text
{ 8 comments }
"Although Read was no professional economist…"
And although Adam Smith was no professional economist, he merely created the science.
Incidentally, Read agreed with my theory of redistribution.
I have never heard anything from Smith.
Incidentally, my comment was meant to be parenthetical and not critical of Boudreaux's statement, which was perfectly appropriate.
I went through my college years hearing, "bring a #2 pencil and a scantron." What genius named the most commonly used pencil #2 instead of #1? The 2nd most commonly used pencil should be a #2 pencil, and so on. I did a #2 on the econ exam would probably raise some eyebrows. I did a #1 can always be blamed on the rain.
Several years ago, your classmate, Sandy Ikeda, promised an automatic "A" to anyone in our Micro I class who could make a pencil just like a store-bought one. It seemed like an easy grade! But once we realized we had to do everything ourselves, from mining the graphite and ore to making our own paint…ah heck, it's easier just to study hard!
Actually, what I was really thinking, though the word just didn't come to me at the time, was that Boudreaux's statement was not just "appropriate" but gracious.
dg lesvic: Adam Smith doesn't use the Internet. He died before it was created.
"dg lesvic: Adam Smith doesn't use the Internet. He died before it was created."
Of course not, he uses the Ethernet.
That essay really opened my eyes. Incredibly well-written. I gave a verbal version of that essay to my oldest son who had an elementary school-level economics lesson.