Last word on econometrics

"With every step that we have taken to define this equilibrium model more strictly, the closer has become its resemblance to the old static (or even stationary) equilibrium model; its bearing upon reality must have come to seem even more remote. It has been fertile in the generation of classroom exercises; but so far as we can see, they are exercises, not real problems. They are not even hypothetical real problems, of the type `what would happen if' where the `if' is something that could conceivably happen. They are shadows of real problems, dressed up in such a way that by pure logic we can find solutions for them." We both survey the creators' skepticism and inquire how a discipline can continue when its own creators doubt its relevance. J.R. Hicks