Boston.com: The pragmatist and the utopian

Today's Globe's Ideas section has a great article on the recent history of economic ideas. Though Galbraith's influence and name have faded within the economics profession, there are many economists who are far more pragmatic than dogmatic when it comes to the role of government in the economy.

Boston Globe Ideas - The pragmatist and the utopian

John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman defined an epic clash of ideas that continues to shape the debate over America's economic future.
By Richard Parker | February 6, 2005
REPUBLICANS NOWADAYS count themselves the party of ideas. ''Ideas matter,'' Ronald Reagan proclaimed a quarter-century ago--words that have since become a GOP shibboleth. But with his recent Inaugural and State of the Union addresses, President Bush reminded us that today's conservatives don't love just any kind of ideas, even conservative ones. Big ideas are better than small, and bold ideas--ideas meant to profoundly reshape world history in the name of high principle--are always preferable to cautious ones. Abandoning a once fiercely defended reputation for caution in the face of change, it seems today's proudly swaggering conservatives have adopted the revolutionary role that for 200 years they existed to defeat.