"A sensation when it was unveiled at the London School of Economics in 1949, the Phillips machine used hydraulics to model the workings of the British economy but now looks, at first glance, like the brainchild of a nutty professor [...]
"The prototype was an odd assortment of tanks, pipes, sluices and valves, with water pumped around the machine by a motor cannibalised from the windscreen wiper of a Lancaster bomber. Bits of filed-down Perspex and fishing line were used to channel the coloured dyes that mimicked the flow of income round the economy into consumer spending, taxes, investment and exports."
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3 comments:
I think a hydraulic machine is precisely the sort of thing McCain would use to help him understand the economy. If he gets wind of this, I expect him to unveil a three-point plan to end the recession:
1. I have a hydraulic machine.
2. It models the economy.
3. It's going to fix everything.
He will then empty his gun into the sky.
Dammit! You're making me want to vote for McCain!
As if this wasn't enough reason ...
Replace McCain with another candidate and "hydraulic machine" with "pie chart" and you have the Perot 1992 campaign.
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