How the Dismal Science got its name
Why is economics the dismal science? Thomas Carlyle apparently coined the phrase, referring to the antislavery advocacy of economists like John Stuart Mill - it wasn't a reference to the population theories of Malthus. Barry L. Ritholtz at The Big Picture links to, and comments on, an article on this bit of intellectual history: "Dismal Science ?".
P.S. 11-24-03: On the same topic, Brad DeLong points to this online essay by Robert Dixon: "The Origin of the Term "Dismal Science" to Describe Economics".
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