Cartoonomics

“...when we ignore the visual dimension in economic controversy, we systematically bias our understanding.”- Levy and Peart

Interesting paper by Sandra Peart and David Levy- Economics in Cartoons;

“One lesson we can take away from this study is that caricature offers a powerful weapon against appeals to abstract economic man. If we ignore the visual domain of economic controversy we ignore a powerful method of attacking abstractions. Economists are often heard to complain that the general public does not take us as seriously as it does natural scientists. Perhaps the fact that histories of economics do not include the visual domain of economic controversy suggests that we do not take public controversy with all due seriousness. We do not recognize that cartoons can serve as models which compete with the models we propose.”

Else where the authors write;


“Perhaps the most famous image of the cross-dressing Mill is “Miss Mill Joins the Ladies” which Judy published to celebrate Mill’s defeat for re-election, (Kinzer, Robson & Robson 1992, p. 264). These message seems quite straightforward. Attempting to changing the natural order of things is something which indicates an unnatural person. Property is something unnatural for women because they can always depend upon the benevolence of the men in their lives. There is no scarcity of benevolence of men for women.”