Huh? Yes, "thermostat" is used as an analogy (by both Friedman and Rowe).
But the article is not claiming that there is a "general thermostat theory." He's talking about one idea (there may be no measured correlation under targeting) and asking why this is not more widely known, especially since the abstract idea seems more widely applicable (to fields other than monetary theory and applied econometrics).
The inverse of Rowe's claim is that this idea is well known (maybe under a different name). Are you arguing that? If so, then by what name?
He's saying two things:
1) I am the only one who knows about this terminology I invented? ("maybe under some other name?", well, how could people know for this name? You invented on your blog, for christ's sake. Obviously you are the first result on Google. Egomaniac.)
2) Then he talks about this abstract Idea, which he thinks is not well known.
About the first topic. WTF.
About the second topic, not sure if it's such an ignored aspect, but ok, it's a valid point.
OK, I see where you're coming from. I don't think he's saying 1). But then again, I've been reading him for a while, so I had a bit of context. If this had been a random one-time post on some guy's blog, then sure, I'd probably think 1).
