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Memoirs of an Economist Watcher

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

A. W. Bob Coats
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Oddly enough, my first clear recollection of an encounter with an economic proposition dates from the age of six or seven, when my father (who died suddenly from the pneumonia when I was eight) casually remarked that the Colman Mustard Company derived most of its profits from the residue people left on their plates. Unfortunately at the time I did not appreciate the analytical subtlety of this observation. Nor, I suspect, did my father, who probably only wanted to particularize the familiar maxim: waste not, want not. Nevertheless, the point evidently stayed in my mind, though I cannot claim it as the origin of my subsequent fascination with economics. The evolution of my attitudes to economics will tie considered later. First, however, let me briefly sketch some relevant features of my personal and socio-economic background, which may shed some light on my subsequent intellectual activities.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , Fall 1996 , pp. 250 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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