Knowledge that Transforms

( N THE OCCASION of Lloyd Metzler's sixtieth birthday in 1973, the economic profession received two presents, one a collection of Metzler's papers [23, 1973], the other a volume of essays in his honor [24, 1974]. It is impossible to write a meaningful review of two volumes like these, and it would be presumptuous for me to try. I shall thus limit myself to a brief characterization of each volume and then concentrate on what is probably Metzler's most influential paper, Wealth, Saving, and the Rate of Interest [21, (1951) 1973], trying to evaluate its contribution after another quarter-century of macroeconomic theory. The Collected Papers, 24 in number, are said to include nearly all of Metzler's scientific articles. Of those listed in the Index of Economic Articles only one, a note on the effects of income redistribution published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, is missing. Three papers, all apparently written around 1962-63, were not previously published. One considers the transfer problem for the case of imported raw materials, another one discusses the significance of the tax system for the wealth effect, and the third explores the implications of partial adjustment for the stability of inventory cycles. A fourth paper, also described as previously unpublished, has, in fact, appeared before. Flexible Exchange Rates, the Transfer Problem, and the Balanced-Budget Theorem can be found in the Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali, April 1966, and it is also listed as a contribution to the festschrift for Marco Fanno. Among the papers that remain unpublished seems to be the third chapter of Metzler's dissertation. The original texts are said to be lightly edited for consistency, which at least one reader regrets. The foreword, signed by Alice Bourneuf, Evsey Domar, Paul Samuelson, and Richard Caves, offers a concise characterization of each paper and its place both in Metzler's work and in the history of its subject matter. In earlier periods, the landmarks of scientific progress were Great Books like the Wealth of Nations, Ricardo's Principles, Marx's Capital, and Keynes's General Theory. However, as the progress of science manifests itself increasingly in journal articles, a selective library of important contributions will consist more and more of collected essays. Such a library will be deficient without Metzler's collected papers. The profession is indebted to the editors for their publication. The 22 essays in honor of Lloyd Metzler, edited by George Horwich and Paul A. Samuelson [24, 1974], range over all four fields of Metzler's own contributions, namely international trade (Ronald W. Jones, John S. Chipman, Harry G. Johnson, M. June Flanders, Joanne Salop, and Akira Takayama), mathematical economics (Kenneth J. Arrow; James P. Quirk; Murray C. Kemp and Henry Y. Wan, 84

The continuation of low rates of fertility and reductions in mortality rates of the elderly have revived the interest of economists in the examination of the economic impacts of aging populations. These concerns combined with the analysis of the income status of the elderly and their activities from the broad framework of the economics of aging. The rapid growth of support programs for the aged also has been the focus of considerable economic analysis. This review highlights the most important areas of research in the literature on aging. The first section discusses the determinants of population age structure changes and their impact on the size and composition of the dependent groups. The following section provides a review of the economic status of the elderly and the sources of income in old age. Section III incorporates the economic characteristics of the elderly into a life-cycle context while Section IV examines the empirical evidence concerning labor supply decisions of the aged. Social Security and private pensions and their influence on the economy are analyzed in Section V. The final section of this article reviews evidence on the interaction between aging and macroeconomic variables. (excerpt)