Disagreeing on all but "seven percent" of their subject matter, Joseph A. Schumpeter, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, and Seymour E. Harris '20, professor of Economics, sought to enlighten some 175 listeners on "The American Economy--Can It Be Stabilized?" in the Winthrop Common Room last night.
Introduced by Charles McWhorter 2L, chairman of the Republican Open Forum, as gentlemen who held "slightly divergent points of view," the two economists produced opposite solutions for the present inflationary problem.
Opposite Viewpoints
Heavy taxation, small investment, and direct price control on some commodities epitomized Professor Harris' solution of inflation, while Professor Schumpeter advocated light taxation and large investment.
"The swollen agencies in Washington live in fear of their daily bread and butter," said Professor Schumpeter, in a stab at Bureaucracy. He labelled the money used to pay bureaucrats "negligible" compared with the damage they caused.
In closing, Professor Schumpeter deplored Republican apathy and asked his audience: "Now, my babies, why shouldn't you believe in truth when others believe so firmly in error?"
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