Silliness From Edward Prescott

Some bloggers have recently commented on an editorial in the funny pages of the Wall Street Journal. This is the same Edward Prescott, who, after co-winning the "Nobel" prize in economics in 2004, was interviewed by the Arizona Republic. And Prescott said then, "It's easy to get over $200,000 in income with two wage earners in a household."

The engineers I know, when designing filters and otherwise applying the theory of linear systems, have some reason to believe that sytems they are modeling are linear. I don't see the same practical concern in economics. Here's an article that I like on mistaken consensus beliefs among mainstream macroeconomists:

• White, Graham (2004). "Capital, Distribution and Macroeconomics: 'Core' Beliefs and Theoretical Foundations", Cambridge Journal of Economics, V. 28: 527-547