Abstract

Much of what passes as economic knowledge is metaphorical in nature. This study focuses in particular on the meteorological origins of economic metaphors. Once markets became imagined in terms of atmospheric phenomena, economists and financial services providers began to construct instruments, especially forecasting models, which resembled those used in meteorology. These tools allowed them to better mimic their own metaphors. Forecasting-oriented indicators, so-called ‘barometers’, contributed to making the economy readable. Their paradoxical impact, however, was that they also created a concept of economy that offered only one type of future, namely unpredictability. This shows that economic metaphors are ambiguous, and they contribute to conceptualizations of economy that are not fully determined by economics.

摘要

作为经济知识传递的大部分内容本质上是隐喻的。本研究特别关注经济隐喻的气象起源。一旦根据大气现象来想象市场，经济学家和金融服务提供商就开始构建工具，尤其是预测模型，类似于气象学中使用的模型。这些工具使他们能够更好地模仿自己的隐喻。以预测为导向的指标，即所谓的“晴雨表”，有助于使经济更具可读性。然而，他们自相矛盾的影响是，他们还创造了一种经济概念，它只提供一种未来，即不可预测性。这表明经济隐喻是模棱两可的，它们促成了并非完全由经济学决定的经济概念化。