The poster child for this is Krugman. I have wondered how on earth did this guy get a Nobel Prize. When I went back and read some of his stuff from the 1990s it did make sense in the context of the times. He went completely insane after the 2000 election. To be broken by W, is really embarrassing.
Well done Oren. Unfortunately, too often "economics" is simply "politics" dressed up in fancy clothes. Too often, economics is "bullshit baffles brains", as my friend used to say, intended to overwhelm the audience.
Listen to Mr. Cass’s podcast from the Ezra Klein show last month. He gives a more nuanced take on tariffs there. I don’t think it’s entirely consistent w/his email here - hence political shill.
Tariffs are a cost. Somebody has to pay that cost.
Also, follow the $$$$. Who pays these pontificators? In the end, most everything turns into a grift unless there are real, tight, enforceable guardrails. "Economics" is no exception.
I’ve grown exceedingly tired of being told that I just don’t understand economics when I bring up that some of my working class friends are now woefully underpaid due to a wave of immigration in my state.
Economists and journalists that berate us and call people like me communists for wanting to reign in big businesses and support domestic industry only further cements our ire towards them. Our communities are being hollowed out; they just don’t see it.
There is some truth here. I wish more economists would look at more and better data. We need to throw out certain theories like the relationship between inflation and unemployment.
Thank you for exposing the conflation between politics and the "dismal science" of economics. I got my BA in Economics at the University of Michigan in 1975. Note: it was a Bachelor of Arts, not a Bachelor of Science. I am no scientist but I'm pretty sure Economics is not a science. The "data" economists use in their graphs is unreliable, obtained questionably, and does prove anything that can be verified by future experimentation under controlled conditions. Even simple supply and demand graphs don't use real "data". Price and Quantity? Prices when? Quantities where? Under what laboratory conditions?
The poster child for this is Krugman. I have wondered how on earth did this guy get a Nobel Prize. When I went back and read some of his stuff from the 1990s it did make sense in the context of the times. He went completely insane after the 2000 election. To be broken by W, is really embarrassing.
Well done Oren. Unfortunately, too often "economics" is simply "politics" dressed up in fancy clothes. Too often, economics is "bullshit baffles brains", as my friend used to say, intended to overwhelm the audience.
According to AEI, washing machine tariffs led to additional 2000 jobs at a cost of $820,000 per job in added consumer costs. That's a good deal?
Ref for aei piece:
Trump’s Washing Machine Tariffs Created 1,800 US Jobs, but at a YUGE Cost to Consumers of $820,000/job
By Mark J. Perry
AEIdeas
April 21, 2019
Oren is a Republican political shill. This argument lacks merit.
Mr. Wolfers does not need my help.
Listen to Mr. Cass’s podcast from the Ezra Klein show last month. He gives a more nuanced take on tariffs there. I don’t think it’s entirely consistent w/his email here - hence political shill.
Tariffs are a cost. Somebody has to pay that cost.
Yeah, we know you made no substantive rebuttal to his argument, because, well, you don’t have one.
Also, follow the $$$$. Who pays these pontificators? In the end, most everything turns into a grift unless there are real, tight, enforceable guardrails. "Economics" is no exception.
I’ve grown exceedingly tired of being told that I just don’t understand economics when I bring up that some of my working class friends are now woefully underpaid due to a wave of immigration in my state.
Economists and journalists that berate us and call people like me communists for wanting to reign in big businesses and support domestic industry only further cements our ire towards them. Our communities are being hollowed out; they just don’t see it.
There is some truth here. I wish more economists would look at more and better data. We need to throw out certain theories like the relationship between inflation and unemployment.
Thank you for exposing the conflation between politics and the "dismal science" of economics. I got my BA in Economics at the University of Michigan in 1975. Note: it was a Bachelor of Arts, not a Bachelor of Science. I am no scientist but I'm pretty sure Economics is not a science. The "data" economists use in their graphs is unreliable, obtained questionably, and does prove anything that can be verified by future experimentation under controlled conditions. Even simple supply and demand graphs don't use real "data". Price and Quantity? Prices when? Quantities where? Under what laboratory conditions?
Guess you didn't get to the "econometrics" part?