but economics is not a dismal science because the economists like it that way; it is because in the end we must submit to the tyranny not just of the numbers, but of the logic they express.
the dismal science attracts more sober-suited math geeks than poetic seekers.
这门无趣的学问吸引的大多是头脑清醒的数学怪才,而非满腹诗情的求索者。
is it too much to hope that other practitioners of the dismal science will follow his example and study the real world?
是不是现在就对从事这门沉闷科学研究的学者寄予走科斯的路,研究现实世界的希望,会显得太过呢?
the key insight of the dismal science bears repeating: there is no free lunch.
这一重要的洞见令人沮丧,其科学性却经得起推敲:没有免费的午餐。
a few years ago, the dismal science was being acclaimed as a way of explaining ever more forms of human behaviour, from drug-dealing to sumo-wrestling.
就在几年前,这乏味的科学还被吹得神乎其神,宣称它甚至还能解释很多其他人类行为,例如贩毒和相扑等。
the dismal science traditionally assumes that people know their own interests, and are best left to mind their own business.