keannu
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- Dec 27, 2010
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Source : Korean Education Broadcasting System, KSAT Completion, 23-4
Since the 19th century, economics has borne the dishonorable name of “the dismal science.” Some people think economics is called “the dismal science” because it’s a dry and difficult subject. Others think it’s because economics tackles depressing topics such as poverty, crime, war, taxes, inflation, and economic collapse.
The cheerless nickname has been attributed by some to the Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, who reportedly coined the term when
discussing economist Thomas Malthus’s prediction that one day population growth would outstrip food production and cause widespread famine. It’s true that Carlyle wrote about Malthus on occasion.
But Carlyle’s negative characterization of economics in fact appears in an article that he wrote about slavery in the West Indies, not in any of his writings about Malthus. And, as it turns out, Carlyle delivered his insult to economics simply because the free market economists of his time did not support his proslavery views. So, in the end, economics earned its less than auspicious nickname for being on what most would agree was the right side of history.
What does "the right side of history" mean here?
Since the 19th century, economics has borne the dishonorable name of “the dismal science.” Some people think economics is called “the dismal science” because it’s a dry and difficult subject. Others think it’s because economics tackles depressing topics such as poverty, crime, war, taxes, inflation, and economic collapse.
The cheerless nickname has been attributed by some to the Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, who reportedly coined the term when
discussing economist Thomas Malthus’s prediction that one day population growth would outstrip food production and cause widespread famine. It’s true that Carlyle wrote about Malthus on occasion.
But Carlyle’s negative characterization of economics in fact appears in an article that he wrote about slavery in the West Indies, not in any of his writings about Malthus. And, as it turns out, Carlyle delivered his insult to economics simply because the free market economists of his time did not support his proslavery views. So, in the end, economics earned its less than auspicious nickname for being on what most would agree was the right side of history.
What does "the right side of history" mean here?
