SEMAINE D'ÉTUDE SUR LE ROLE DE L’ANALYSE ECONOMETRIQUE ETC.

29]

FRISCH

I am glad that Prof. DorRFMAN raised the question of what is a
« project », of what is to be understood by the description of a
project. What kind of thing should be included in the project description?
 In my mind there are certain things that can, without
difficulty be included in a project description, and which can be
specified without relating this « project » to other projects.
The quantity of various types of inputs needed, in order to
carry the project out, the distribution of these inputs over time; the
capacity increase which the project will cause if accepted, etc., all
these things can be specified perfectly well in the project description
of this individual project. These data are more or less of the
engineering kind. But there are other effects of the decision to
accept a project, which can only be described by considering this
project as part of the whole economy. Here is where the economist
come into the picture.
Some of these effects — particularly the indirect ones — are very
difficult to trace. This is just the raison d’étre of the complete decision
 model.
There are good effects and bad effects. You must define the
preferences of the political authority before you can say what is
«good » and what is «bad ». If you really want to go to the
bottom of this description of effects, you will by necessity be led
more and more in the direction of the global model which I presented


LEONTIFF

The operational significance of Professor DORFMAN’s scheme can
possibly be best judged in terms of the amount and nature of factual
information that would be required for its practical implementation.
He proposes to derive the production function comprising all possible
 input combinations that could be used for the manufacture of

51 Dorfman - pag. 13