...I suspect that good stories are the best teaching technique.
Again, I don't think that demonstration works very well -- especially in academic circles...
...I don't know anyone with a better with data than Doug Henwood. I once asked Brad DeLong if he knew anyone better. He gave me the name of a labor economist, but I told him that I thought that that person's expertise was rather narrow. Maybe Doug has been able to convince people.
I think Paul Samuelson was the one who said, ``It takes a theory to beat a theory....''
Michael Perelman
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David Landis who teaches Econ at de Anza was in the shop today told me you had said during the book presentation at Modern Times, you were working on something about intellectual property law and the new economy. Is that right?
Anyway, just to reiterate the point. I wanted something to use against the two law students and didn't have anything but my mouth. I mean, I wanted something like an empirical tool and there wasn't one that I knew of. Lawyers (and policy types) are good at arguing a line of argument. It's facts, figures, demonstrative `proof' that kills them. I don't mean that convinces them in a psychological sense, rather it neutralizes their argument in a formal setting. I realize this itself is an old argument, dating at least from Galileo. What convinced the intellectual world that the earth was round?
In the end the only thing that got the libertarian law student to stop his speal was mentioning Bill Gates as example of what's wrong with the entire conceptual frame of intellectual property rights. So, you're right that stories work.
I also thought about Doug H. Isn't he supposed to be working on another book along the same lines---new economy something or other?
I just started Lessig. It's a little dull and he confuses to being a lawyer. The text is set in 9 point Garamond which is a bad sign (shoot all graphic designers).
Chuck Grimes