I am appreciative of Professor Lomasky's candor
in explaining his opposition to Aid to Families of
Dependent Children. I myself am not persuaded by
the argument that this humanitarian gesture 
contributes significantly to the frequency of 
illegitimate births. I don't believe that the behavior
of unmarried teenage girls, foolish enough to become
pregnant, is influenced consciously or unconsciously
by economic considerations.

To the best of my understanding, even I, who am neither
a teenager nor pregnant, am influenced only tangentially
by economic forces. Some months ago, when I first presumed
to contribute to this list, I naively betrayed myself by
describing how I believed medicine should be practiced
and how I thought I had practiced it. At the time, my esteemed
fellow listmembers found it unbelievable that I should not
be a physician in the business of making money. I still
don't see myself that way. I consider the paradigm of the
homo oeconomicus which I understand to be the logical 
precondition for much if not all the economic theorizing
that pervades this list, empirically an absurdity and
ethically a disgrace. But I am quite prepared to accept
the onus of my dissent and to contemplate the possibility
that I am either a liar or a fool, if not indeed both. 

Part of next month I will be out of town. Before I leave,
I shall sign off the list. After I have returned and caught up
with my work, I hope to sign back on. Meanwhile I wish to
thank each and every one of you who has replied to my posts
for, as it were, having held up a mirror before me that
showed me who I am.
                                      Ernst Meyer