Parrots, Laissez Faire, Supply and Demand, and Political Economy
Thomas Allen Horne: Property Rights and Poverty: Political Argument in Britain, 1605-1834: "To appeal to laissez-faire on all occasions, [J.R. McCulloch wrote]...
savors more of the policy of a parrot than of a statesman or philosopher...
Quote Investigator: Teach a Parrot to Say ‘Supply and Demand’ and You Have an Economist: "Dear Quote Investigator: There is a humorous saying about parrots and economists that is often attributed to the philosopher and satirist Thomas Carlyle...
...Sometimes the joke is simply ascribed to Anonymous. Here are three versions:
- Teach a parrot the terms ‘supply and demand’ and you’ve got an economist.
- It’s easy to train economists. Just teach a parrot to say ‘Supply and Demand’.
- You can make even a parrot into a learned political economist. All he must learn are the two words ‘supply’ and ‘demand’.
I have not seen any precise references supporting the linkage to Thomas Carlyle. Would you be willing to attempt to trace this comical barb?
Quote Investigator: In the 1800s the words ‘supply and demand’ were sometimes derided as “parrot words”. In addition, disapproving terms such as “parrot-like” and “parrot-cries” were used in critiques aimed at economic analyses invoking “supply and demand”. In 1897 an individual using the phrase “supply and demand” was said to be acting “like a trained parrot”.
In 1907 the prominent Yale economist Irving Fisher included a version of the parrot joke in a book about interest rates. Fisher did not claim credit for the jibe, and he left the attribution anonymous. In 1931 an author used the following statement to present a tentative ascription for the parrot jest:
It was probably Thomas Carlyle’s none too gentle pen.
That was the earliest connection to Carlyle located by QI. Since Carlyle died in 1881 this late attribution provided very weak evidence....
In 1907 Irving Fisher... presented a version... did not identify the originator of the joke. This is the earliest instance located....
It was once wittily remarked of the early writers on economic problems, “Catch a parrot and teach him to say ‘supply and demand,’ and you have an excellent economist.” Prices, wages, rent, interest, and profits were thought to be fully “explained” by this glib phrase...
