It is because the two classes of
subjects are investigated by different instruments and in a
different spirit. The physicist has an exact nomenclature; uses
methods of research well adapted to the objects he has in view;
pursues his investigations without being attacked by those who
wish for different results; and, above all, pursues them only for
the purpose of discovering the truth. In economic questions the
case is entirely different. Only in rare cases are they studied
without at least the suspicion that the student has a preconceived
theory to support. If results are attained which oppose any
powerful interest, this interest can hire a competing investigator
to bring out a different result. So far as the public can see, one
man's result is as good as another's, and thus the object is as
far off as ever. We may be sure that until there is an intelligent
and rational public, able to distinguish between the speculations
of the charlatan and the researches of the investigator, the
present state of things will continue. What we want is so wide a
diffusion of scientific ideas that there shall be a class of men
engaged in studying economic problems for their own sake, and an
intelligent public able to judge what they are doing.
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