Camelot elétrica: um economista visita a corte do Rei Arthur

Abstract

Mark Twain wrote the novel A Connecticut yankee in King Arthur’s court (1889) as a way to reflect on the changes happening in the so called “Gilded Age” of the United States. The book tells the story of Hank Morgan, an engineer whofound himself in the 6th century England, when King Arthur led the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot. Hank tries to industrialize England twelve centuries before, using his knowledge of technology, political economy and culture. His project of an Electric Camelot, however, suffers many problems and fails. The novel is relevant for economists because it deals with many topics of interest, such as entrepreneurship and economic development. The literature in the “visiting economist syndrome” – term created by Albert Hirschman – identifies many problems in the development aid process of a country due to a series of factors, including even arrogance and naivety of the economic models, but that are present when dealing with different contexts. It is argued that these problems have been discussed by Mark Twain, who had interest in the nascent neoclassical economics, in the referred novel. In spite of Hank being an engineer, his trajectory resembles a visiting economist. Thus, the novel is a tool to explore problems and challenges of economic development through fiction.