tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post7292019701408956784..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: Fixing EconomicsEvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-26674115935730439962012-01-26T13:55:24.154-05:002012-01-26T13:55:24.154-05:00It's things like this that make me wonder if t...It's things like this that make me wonder if the economics profession should take the econophysicists more seriously, lest everyone gets overtaken and falsified into oblivion as Joseph L. McCauley predicts...Blue Auroranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-80536791430869706762012-01-26T06:58:04.965-05:002012-01-26T06:58:04.965-05:00Also note the use of the term 'complex system&...Also note the use of the term 'complex system' yet the refusal to part substantially from GE and PE models!Unlearningeconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13687413107325575532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-33956064414916315482012-01-25T20:17:09.743-05:002012-01-25T20:17:09.743-05:00The Queen shouldn't expect anyone to be able t...The Queen shouldn't expect anyone to be able to forecast a complex system.<br /><br />Really? Then what's the bother?<br /><br />And, of course Lucas did and so did Greenspan and both still have their licenses.<br /><br />In fact, the "profession" is rotten to the core, with tenure, conflicts of interest, and bias and prejudice and lots of wackos. What other science would tolerate "libertarians?" See The Onion (passim).<br /><br />The 800 pound gorilla is, of course, private debt, two words which never pass your lips. And the reasons are obvious. The only solution makes "class warfare" look like a picnic and who would dare offend the Rich who hold all the debt that just needs to be cancelled.John L. Davidson, Esq., Saint Louis, Missourihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06489381481280010964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-86885961572985176212012-01-25T12:59:22.207-05:002012-01-25T12:59:22.207-05:00Of course I am unable to agree for too long, so:
...Of course I am unable to agree for too long, so:<br /><br />'The Queen shouldn't expect anyone to be able to forecast a complex system'<br /><br />It's not about accurate forecasts it's just that economists were looking in the wrong place. Had they acknowledged the role of private debt in the system alarm bells would have been going off years before the crisis.<br /><br />Also the dismissal of the Mankiw students is unfair - sure, they're just first year UGs but that doesn't mean they are unable to evaluate the end product of economics (financial crises). If buildings kept falling down for no reason I'd certainly back a first year boycott of civil engineering.Unlearningeconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13687413107325575532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-1148464482757457542012-01-25T11:32:22.595-05:002012-01-25T11:32:22.595-05:00There are some very good points in here - the cric...There are some very good points in here - the cricism of maths, acknowledgement of uncertainty and recognition of the importance of history. However, for me, this sentence is more valuable than all of the others:<br /><br />'Modern debates about who caused the financial crisis—government or the private financial sector—are almost nonsensical.'<br /><br />Yes x1000. This is an implicit recognition of so much of the cognitive dissonance that neoclassicism can create.Unlearningeconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13687413107325575532noreply@blogger.com