SELECTION AND IMPLEMENTATION 
THE ECONOMETRICS OF THE FUTURE 
RAGNAR qFRISCH 
Tniversitetet à Oslo - Sosialakonomisk Institutt - Oslo - Norge 
What I am going to present to you today is in all humility 
a frontal attack on a ghost that has been haunting all of us for 
the last generations, whether we want to be classified as be- 
longing to the West or to the East or to the uncommitted coun- 
tries, which, with a few exceptions, are the countries in Afro- 
Asia and partly in Latin-America that are now striving towards 
rapid economic and social development. 
I can do nothing better than to begin by quoting the intro- 
ductory part of the program of this Study Week. And, inci 
dentally, this introduction is a significant indication of the pro- 
found understanding of the basic problem of our times which 
the organizers of this Study Week, with the blessing of His 
Holiness the Pope, have had. The introduction begins with 
‘hese words, and I quote: 
« Modern economies are extremely complex and both theory 
and practice show that the free play of individual choice does 
not guarantee, as used to be thought, favourable results for the 
community. 
Once this is admitted it is obviously necessary to provide 
suitable informative and control instrument and fix the targets 
which the economy is aiming at ». 
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