[From Bruce Gregory (980701.1020)]
Paul Krugman's latest book _The Accidental Theorist_ has a brief essay on
modeling called "Four Percent Follies". I recommend it and the other
articles to anyone who enjoys reading clear and simple prose. Rick will be
dismayed that Krugman does not invoke PCT, but even Rick will have little to
quarrel with in the last paragraph of the above essay:
"But there is no way around it. If you want to be truly informed about
economics (or anything else), you must go back to school--and keep going
back again and again. You must be prepared to work through little models
before you can use the big words--in fact, it is usually a good idea to try
to avoid the big words altogether. If you balk at this task--if you think
you are too grown-up for this sort of thing--they you might sound impressive
and sophisticated, but you will have no idea what you are talking about."
Bruce Gregory