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1、ALabourMarketFableAlexRobsonApaperpreparedfortheH.R.NichollsSocietyÕs25thConferenceÒOneHundredYearsoftheHigginsLegacy:TreasuredInheritanceorDebilitatingFolly?Ó,TrinityCollege,RoyalParade,Parkville,Victoria,6Ð8August,2004ALabourMarketFableby*AlexRobson1.IntroductionTheAmericanHeritageDictionarydefi
2、nesamythas“atraditional,typicallyancientstorydealingwithsupernaturalbeings,ancestors,orheroesthatservesasafundamentaltypeintheworldviewofapeople,asbyexplainingaspectsofthenaturalworldordelineatingthepsychology,customs,oridealsofsociety”.Thisdefinitionisnotparticularlyinstructiveinrelationtoeconomi
3、cs.However,amythisalsodefinedbytheAmericanHeritageDictionaryas“afictionorhalf-truth,especiallyonethatformspartofanideology.”Ineconomicswesometimesfindbrandnewhalf-truthsdevelopingoutofthinair.Ontheotherhand,sometendtograduallywhitheraway,onlytoberevivedoccasionally.Andsomewerebornlongagoneverseemt
4、odieout.Inhisexcellentcollectionofpublishedjournalarticlesthatdemystifyandrefutemanyofthe1profession’scommonlyacceptedhalf-truthsconcerningmarketfailures,ProfessorDanielSpulbernotesthatsuchhalf-truthsineconomicsareoftenperpetuatedbytheuseoffables-“picturesquemoral2talesmeanttoillustrateorevensuppo
5、rtfundamentaleconomictheory”.AccordingtoSpulber,“althoughsomeofthesefablesarefactuallyinaccurate,theirappealtoeconomistscontinuesundiminished,beingrecitedincountlessclassrooms,textbooksandacademicseminars.”Hegoesontonotethat:“Theanecdotestoldbyeconomistsareentertaining,instructiveandundoubtedlycre
6、atesocialandintellectualbondswithintheprofession.Manyoftheseanecdoteshaveacommonpurpose.Theyattempttoshowtheexistenceofsometypeofmarketfailure.Theseanecdotesalsohave*SchoolofEconomics,FacultyofEconomicsandCommerce,AustralianNationalUniversity,CanberraACT2600.AUSTRALIA.Ph+61261254909email:alex.robs
7、on@anu.edu.au.ThispaperwaspreparedfortheH.R.NichollsSociety’s25thConference“OneHundredYearsoftheHigginsLegacy:TreasuredInheritanceorDebilitatingFolly?”TrinityCollege,RoyalParade,Parkville,Victoria,6–8August,2004.
