Assessment of Current Theories

Abstract

If at the end of Chapter 3 the theories seemed confused, at the end of Chapter 4 the confusion was surely worse confounded, the contrast of views even more bewildering. At the end of 1984, the economies of OECD countries continued to falter, with only the United States and Sweden showing clear signs of improvement. On the records of past trade cycles, improvement is long overdue. This may not be the fault of the economists, for much of their advice is ignored. But the varieties of advice tendered enable governments, as Lord Bauer observed, to select as advisers those economists that they know will advise them to do what they intend to do anyway (Bauer, 1984, p. 153).