August 1, 2015

When is science settled?

"By definition, science is never settled. It is always subject to change in the light of new evidence."

The quotation above is from a completely uninteresting, but symptomatic article in the Wall Street Journal. We learn that nothing is certain when it comes to global warming because, among other things, "climatology is only about 170 years old". Also, flat earth and relativity. Caution is an honorable position, but I cannot resist linking to Isaac Asimov's The Relativity of Wrong.

I am however a bit surprised to notice that the same author asserts as a self-evident truth that, should the corporate income tax be abolished, "revenue from other sources, especially the personal income tax, would quickly make up for it and then some". No bet-hedging on this one? Is it a proven result of the venerable science of economics?






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