256 may 25. Things change
Economics tends to proceed as though ideas such as capital, interest, tax, land, ownership, labor are fixed in the state of nature, not flowing as conditions change. God given for eternity, not man made and shifting. Here is a simple example of change in a concept, in this case the idea of quaint which shifts from knowledgeable to antiquated and cute, from a compliment to deeply critical, which is, over time, a complete reversal. A good example in economies is political economy, which shifts from being a convservatue calculation perspective to a progressive humanism.
From etymology online (a great resource for any key word in economics).
c. 1200, cointe, “cunning, ingenious; proud,” from Old French cointe “knowledgeable, well-informed; clever; arrogant, proud; elegant, gracious,” from Latin cognitus “known, approved,” past participle of cognoscere “get or come to know well” (see cognizance). Modern spelling is from early 14c.
Later in English, “elaborate, skillfully made” (c. 1300); “strange and clever” (mid-14c.). Sense of “old-fashioned but charming” is first attested 1795, and could describe the word itself, which had become rare after c. 1700 (though it soon recovered popularity in this secondary sense). Related: Quaintly; quaintness.
GardenWorld Politics - the book 