Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Sarah Vaughan Singing "My Favorite Things"

Two professors proposed an alternative to traditional economics. But instead of rejecting the idea that economics is science, they said that we have to adjust our methods to make it more scientific. One concentrated on improving empirics. The other concentrated on changing the limiting assumptions that handcuff economics.

Neither one has convinced me that they are right. Economics is philosophy, and one cannot make it more scientific without rejecting its didactic lessons. James Buchanan put it best, "Economics is a very peculiar "science."

It should be a fun semester.

There are two songs that stimulate my tear ducts: Dave Brubeck's "Somewhere" and Sarah Vaughan singing "My Favorite Things".

"Somewhere" reminds me that the emptiness man feels is matched by a Truth (God) that is somewhere waiting to be found.

"My Favorite Things" is lyrically and musically pretty simple, but Vaughan's unrelenting attempt to be cheerful in the midst of hopelessness destroys the protective shell that functional adults must erect.

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