REPLY SD Impact on National Government Policies (SD6132)

[Malczynski Leonard A lamalcz sandia.gov]

Posted by  "Malczynski, Leonard A" <lamalcz at sandia.gov>
In the Journal of Economic Literature Vol. XXV March 1987, Robert
Nelson, then of the US Department of the Interior wrote a paper titled,
"The Economics Profession and the Making of Public Policy".
 
Here are some revealing excerpts,
 
"Most economists hope that their work will have an impact on public
policy. Yet few economists devote much time or effort to studying the
mechanisms by which economics writings and research are translated into
public policy results."
 
"fundamental concern long addressed ... the proper role of professional
experts in the ... governing scheme."
 
"Economists coming into direct contact with government decision making
have found that they cannot limit their role to that of neutral
technicians; to do so would be to make themselves irrelevant and
ultimately excluded."
 
 
Perhaps we might substitute 'system dynamics' for 'economics', etc. 
 
I have low (1706 KB) and high (6323 KB) resolution pdf files of the
article. Please contact me if you would like a copy.
 
NB: I am not posting this as fuel for the economics versus system
dynamics debate!
 
Len Malczynski
Geosciences Center
Sandia National Laboratories - Host of the 2009 International Conference
of the System Dynamics Society
Albuquerque, NM 87123-1350 USA
Posted by  "Malczynski, Leonard A" <lamalcz at sandia.gov>
posting date   Tue, 2 Jan 2007 09:08:01 -0700