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Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2014

Legitimizing Napkin Drawing: The Curious Dispersion of Laffer Curves, 1978-2008

Résumé

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a historical account of the Laffer curve as a case study of dispersion. It seems to be an ideal case for doing so because the formal triviality of the curve contrasts sharply with the complexity of its circulation between and among different communities: economists, policy advisors, propagandists, and journalists. For each of these communities--which, in addition, were not necessarily homogeneous within themselves--the Laffer curve had different embodiments and meanings; hence it makes more sense to use the plural curves rather than the singular. Nonetheless, we shall see that the dispersion of Laffer curves presented two peculiarities: first, unlike many other diagrams used in economics, popular instantiations of the Laffer curve preceded its "academization" by professional economists; second, in spite of the numerous transformations the curve has undergone in the process of its circulation, its canonical presentation was reinforced over time. The circulation of Laffer curves must be explained by the internal dynamics of each of the communities that interacted with them, and by what happens at the intersection of these communities, most importantly as the consequence of the ambiguous position that the economics profession has maintained toward its role in policy advising.
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Dates et versions

hal-00870475 , version 1 (07-10-2013)

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  • HAL Id : hal-00870475 , version 1

Citer

Yann Giraud. Legitimizing Napkin Drawing: The Curious Dispersion of Laffer Curves, 1978-2008. Catelijne Coopmans, Janet Vertesi, Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar. Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited, MIT Press, pp.269-290, 2014, 9780262525381. ⟨hal-00870475⟩
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