But Error has a penetrating tooth

From Sonnets From Later Life 1981 – 1993. 24 June 1992

Sonnet for Economics

by Kenneth Boulding

Economist for all my working days

I should by this time roughly know what’s best

For humankind, and put to some small test

My colleagues’ images of yeas and nays.

The economy, however is a maze;

To map it is a very complex quest.

Even its history mostly must be guessed

So, over this ignorance we raise

A fantasy of markets with perfection,

Mistaking charm and elegance for truth;

But Error has a penetrating tooth

That bites when we go in a false direction.

And if our theories are mainly fictions,

It’s most unwise to make exact predictions!