“By the time it comes to interpretation of the substantive conclusions, the assumptions on which the model has been based are easily forgotten. But it is precisely the empirical validity of these assumptions on which the usefulness of the entire exercise depends… A natural Darwinian feedback operating through selection of academic personnel contributes greatly to the perpetuation of this state of affairs.”

—  Wassily Leontief

Source: "Theoretical assumptions and nonobserved facts," 1971, p. 3.

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Wassily Leontief10
Russian economist 1906–1999

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