The Accidental Theorist All work and no play makes William Greider a dull boy

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Paul Krugman
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Imagine an economy that produces only two things: hot dogs and buns. Consumers in this economy insist that every hot dog come with a bun, and vice versa. And labor is the only input to production. OK, timeout. Before we go any further, I need to ask what you think of an essay that begins this...

Imagine an economy that produces only two things: hot dogs and buns. Consumers in this economy insist that every hot dog come with a bun, and vice versa. And labor is the only input to production.
OK, timeout. Before we go any further, I need to ask what you think of an essay that begins this way. Does it sound silly to you? Were you about to turn the virtual page, figuring that this couldn't be about anything important?

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Timothy B. Lee 1 year ago

This week marks the 25th anniversary of my all-time favorite essay on economics: Paul Krugman's brilliant meditation on the importance of theory to understanding the economy.