Feb 26, 2001

The scorn poured on non-economic rationalists by P.P.McGuiness (SMH Feb
22, “Revealing the empty pretensions of academe”) misses the mark. He
seems to want to equate rationalism with rationality. So by definition,
anyone opposed has to be irrational.

But rationalism in its true sense means adherence to the seeming logic of
abstract principles and theories. At times that adherence can lead to
highly irrational dogmatism and scholasticism. One needs look no further
than the mistakes of Australia’s many economic rationalists for examples.

Gregory Clark