Word: galbraithian
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Perhaps it is fitting that the Galbraithian phrase most permanently woven into the fabric over everyday life is "the conventional wisdom," which he defines as "the beliefs that are at any time assiduously, solemnly and mindlessly traded between the pretentiously wise." Galbraith's radar for the "conventional wisdom" always makes his observations ring with that extra measure of clarity. When he wrote in a recent edition of The New York Review of Books that "Solar energy attracts people with an indifferent commitment to personal hygience and a strong commitment to organic foods," the comment transcended mere economic analysis. Likewise, when...
...bedrock of the Galbraithian economic vision is common sense: when something is wrong, make it right. Do not try to pretend that it is right. It has been about 73 years since Galbraith was born on his father's Ontario farm, but its marks on him can never be erased by time. His garb is now strictly Ivy League Professorial, yet, in repose, his thumbs seem naturally to stray to his lapels, in the classic farming pose. The wrists, dangling from his famed and still awesome longitude, still seem unnaturally powerful for one who has made a living with...
Serious Problem. Those words might, with Galbraithian irony, be applied to the author's own belief in wage-price controls as a panacea. Corporate and union power is indeed a serious problem for any government trying to restrain inflation, and there are times when wage-price restraint must be enforced. But Galbraith-style permanent controls tend in the long run to suffocate economic life by distorting market forces, discouraging business investment and initiative, and creating shortages. They also breed worker resentment over lost wage boosts that translates into more social and political unrest than a popularly elected government...
Galbraith's notions met with astonishment even in socialist Britain. The Economist said that the "Galbraithian heresy" about the end of the marketplace "sits rather oddly beside the experience of the past 20 years, which have seen a wider array of entirely new consumer goods than in any other two decades before." The Daily Telegraph editorialized that Galbraith's propositions were based on "sleight of mouth." Economist Colin Clark was amazed at Galbraith's "grand and illusory dreams of all-powerful industrial corporations untouched by competition," and suggested that he observe a "cautious unwillingness to extend theory...
CHALLENGE TO AFFLUENCE, by Gunnar Myrdal. Attacking the Galbraithian theory of the affluent society, the eminent Swedish sociologist argues that the U.S. has to raise its economic growth rate from the current 1% and start producing again...