When Truth Is Not Beauty, Nor Beauty Truth (Econ Art - Divorcing Art from Science in Modern Economics) (Book Review‪)‬

Rick Szostak. Econ Art--Divorcing Art from Science in Modern Economics. London: Pluto Press, 1999. Pp. Xv+256. ISBN 0-7453-1447-3 (hb) 0-7453-1442-2 (pb). Rick Szostak's latest effort has at its core an entertaining conceit. Economists are too much immersed in economics to fully comprehend what they are doing. Shock tactics are required to shake the profession out of its dogmatic sleep. This can only happen if economists are willing (or forced) to don alien lenses when reflecting on their own endeavours. (Though, economists under the best of circumstances are not much given to introspection.) When suggesting a new perspective from which to view the economics profession, modern art (specifically painting) has to be as far afield from an economist's normal concerns as picnicking on Mars.