>   Naahh, you do the economists a dis-service. They understand that
>   economic advancement, defined as simply as you have, is only one
>   element of a complex model shaping human choice.  There are all sorts
>   of levels of rationality recognized by modern economic models, but
>   they do incorporate various measures of job satisfaction.  And museums
>   provide job satisfaction in massive gobs, right folks?
>
>   Eric Siegel
>   [log in to unmask]

Well, I guess I was thinking of works like _Time on the Cross_ by
cliometricians (economic historians) Fogel and Engerman, who quantified the
American slavery experience in strictly economic terms and concluded that
it really wasn't all that bad.  They compared slavery with the condition of
the free worker and claimed that the black slave faired better
statistically.  Most historians refuted their claims and have since
discredited their methodologies, which ignored the very essence of slavery;
that in losing their freedom, slaves lost the rights of economic choice as
both producers and consumers that free workers enjoyed.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Henry B. Crawford                                       v
Curator of History                                       v
Museum of Texas Tech University               v
Box 43191                                                   v
Lubbock, TX  79409-3191                         v
806/742-2442                                          v
FAX 742-1136                                            v
[log in to unmask]                                     V
All opinions expressed are mine                   v
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