Musgrave and Cheney?

Richard Musgrave has died, one of the last monuments (if not the last) of the Great Economists prior to the mathematical revolution in the Economic profession. David Warsh has an excellent article on Musgrave’s contribution. It would be nice to say I had read all of Musgrave, but actually I have only read his first article from 1939 (one of those History Term Paper research projects). I say this regretfully, as he and I probably hold most of the same precepts dear to our hearts. Musgrave would agree with me in the statement there is never sufficient time to pursue all that one wished to do; there being simply too much good Work out there to explore.

This Post by HedgeFundGuy somewhat ties in with the work of Musgrave, and may be a Must-Read for Any adventurous enough to consider teaching macroeconomics. His statement that macroeconomics is more of a History course rather than a study of Economics holds a vital truth. Macroeconomics almost always devolves into a pursuit for the major concepts advanced by the premier Economists, Musgrave most assuredly being one of the Esteemed. HedgeFundGuy has his own axe to grind, claiming the absolute need for protection of Property Rights, which might not be the most essential Concern; I personally favor an intrinsic enforced Deserved Pay system, often at odds with entrenched Heritage transfers of Wealth to heirs. Growth theory can be reduced down to a simple statement in my mind: Growth is dependent upon Educated Labor; who are propellent for Growth development opportunities. The downside here lies in the fact there exists Diseconomies of Scale to Education, where too great numbers of Educated labor generate decreasing Marginal utilities for Labor under constrained resources.

This Post by PGL at Angry Bear may also have a bearing on the discussion. PGL’s basic critique is of Dick Cheney’s performance in office; reinforced by many other Sources, and consideration of Cheney’s Character by the Public. The real element relating to the Above comes in Cheney’s likely incitement of vast expenditures of Public Funds for potentially personal ends of a petty nature. Musgrave’s major contribution to economics may be the assertion that there must be a moral justification to Public Finance, and such Expenditures must be rationally devised within the Public forum. lgl