Exploring Dismal Science

1. Repetition gives a statement credibility, and many books have repeated the story that Thomas Carlyle coined the term "dismal science" in reaction to the writings of Thomas Malthus. However, David Levy and Sandra Peart have argued that this popular story of the origin of the term is wrong and that the issues involved in the origin of the term were completely different. You can find Levy and Peart's position at:
http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Columns/LevyPeartdismal.html.

According to Levy and Peart, what position were economists defending? What was the position of Carlyle and his allies?

 


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