The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 8

Here's another joke economists like to tell on themselves: if all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they would reach-no conclusion. President Harry S. Truman is said to have longed for a one-armed economist, because all the economists who advised him were inclined to say, "On the one hand,.. but on the other hand. " Perhaps these two characteristics are related.
(a) Can you think of a single economic policy not now in effect that you would like to see adopted that does not entail some possible or even probable consequence that you would not like to see come about?
(b) "The policy may not work, but we ought to try it anyway, because we have to do something." How probable is it that the person making such a statement believes rather strongly that the policy will work, and that people who are against the policy believe strongly that it will not work?
(c) A standard way of assessing alternative policies is to predict and Assess their probable consequences. Is there any definite limit to the number of consequences of a particular social policy?
(d) Someone says, "This problem will work itself out. Government intervention is not required." Does it matter how long the problem takes to "work itself out?" Do you think proponents and opponents of the policy are likely to agree on how long this will be, even if they agree that it will eventually "work itself out?"