Thanks Keith for mention in despatches. (Para 4, 21 Apr.) No, I am trying to
get away from deduction except in setting up ideas. I wonder if Economics is the
only modern persuasion still using deductive methodology of the Middle Ages and
earlier? A great example was that intriguing and interesting group of hypotheses
sent by W.Curtis Priest on the 20th. If they are "Laws" then I claim for A+B
"The Douglas unifying superlaw of deficiency of purchasing power". Or something
like that, and I'm not just being facetious. As claimed for their theory by the
Binary Economists, it certainly could bring Say's "law" into stream with other
theories, so it is unhifying like Einstein's work in science. Science learned its
modern inductive methodology from technology, particularly development of
artillery. How I wish bad economics exploded at the perpetrators instead of
millions of the world's poorer and weaker.
Keith touched on this sort of confusion in his prior paragraph. Deductive
reasoning lays open all sorts of digressions that are much better tested
practacally against reality by inductive methods. In this case, two stages are
being mixed; 1. Douglas' philosophy aims at maximum personal freedom, 2. his
policies aim to bring this about. Those who don't share the philosophy are
wasting time considering the rest, because it is aimed at providing a result they
don't want.
Even Vic Bridger (also 21 Apr.) demonstrated a fault in the method by claiming
a theorem as a "fact". It is a proposition to be demonstrated ("quod erat
demonstrandum", if I've got it dead right), and it is based on certain
assumptions. Mathemetics can change the result by changing an assumption, (if
parallel lines do meet, at infinity; different geometry) and the same is possible
here. It just ends up as a minefield of conjecture.
Apart from our belief in its potential benefit to humanity, I believe it has
the potential to totally reform economic thinking by bringing scientific methods
into the field. This is reinforced by the (observable) fact that, in this
country at least, opposition has almost always come in the form of ridicule
rather than reason.
Hope there are no typos. I've studiously avoided "Brutish", but ...
John R.
Reply. Keith Wilde
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