Wednesday, May 23, 2012

economists: what (or who) are they good for?


zerohedge |"Economists today primarily serve the needs of powerful interests at the expense of society in general" is how Robert Johnson - the frighteningly honest Executive Director of INET - describes the self-indoctrinating field of study that remains in such seemingly high regard in the nation. In an excellent and forthright brief interview with Stifterverband, Johnson notes that "Economists are very much accused of 'only seeing the economy through the eyes of the model' as opposed to seeing the economy and building a model as a map of what reality is." And while "when the people become anxious they want the expert to tell them what's going to happen. And they feel good when their anxiety is relieved because they think they understand the future. But if the expert instead of telling the truth is selling snake oil - a false story - when that is unmasked the expert becomes the scapegoat." Overall he believes 'economists' did a great disservice to mankind and suggests a number of approaches to "cleaning up after that". Sadly, he opines, "At the core, economics is about politics and about power, and the question for the economists is whose power are you going to serve as an expert."

8 comments:

Uglyblackjohn said...

Spin doctors selling a product (debt).

Vincent Lazaroo said...

 Let us have the pleasure to introduce you Sharingroads, a
French-Senegalese ecotourism site leaned in a village  of exception posted in
sentinel in front of the Sahelian desert.
 We develop our proposal of
stay towards international customers made sensitive in the activities of
the ecotourism and would like to entertain with you about a
partnership susceptible to interest our two companies.

umbrarchist said...

Should umbrarchist  come in and play his broken record again?  Why break with tradition?

"Economists are very much accused of 'only seeing the economy through
the eyes of the model' as opposed to seeing the economy and building a
model as a map of what reality is."

That is the problem.  In their model money is more important than resources, labor and products.  But products like cars wear out.  That depreciation is not money.  But replacing them can be called wealth creation though it is really only wealth replacement.  So ignoring depreciation makes their economic growth number look much better but it is a total distortion of reality.

When are White men going to admit they have been doing grade school algebra wrong for the last 60 years?  Let's hold our breath and wait.

CNu said...

rotflmbao...,

Why-n-a-phuk you waiting for anybody to do a dayyum thing?!?!?!?!?!

That has GOT.TO.BE. one of the silliest statements I've read in a month of sundays.

Temple3 said...

That's great. I was of the same mind when I a teenager. I enrolled in college with the intention of majoring in economics, but I found the approach to inquiry within the discipline to be absurd, frankly. Economics, in many respects, rejects history -- or should I say, it neglects certain histories. Perhaps it was that I perceived my professors and peers as being singularly unqualified to posit meaningful theory/practice for my priorities. Whatever the case, I thought the game creation and modeling were "fun," but deeply inhuman. I was hipped to Descartes before I cut ties with economics and have raised that same criticism to deaf ears for many decades now. It seems that those who can understand the Cartesian framework and its influence have had their ears drummed out, and those who cannot understand it or its impacts are simply mute. 

I can imagine that Mr. Johnson's board meetings are an interesting place to spend a few hours.

Temple3 said...

An undergraduate economics class is one hell of a place. University professors at the places I've studied were deeply opposed to framing any other mindsets beyond immersion in capitalism, exposure to socialism and communism (in the European theater), and fleeting glances through the back door at historical "3rd World" economies. I imagined at the time that they lacked the content knowledge to "go there," but it occurs to me that vested interest and TRUE BELIEF may, too, have played a part. 

umbrarchist said...

 I live to serve.

umbrarchist said...

Why is the world running on Euro-American economic theory?

Why aren't any nations thinking independently?  I do not comprehend this intellectual conformity to such simplistic ideas when the flaws are so obvious, especially after being pointed out.

I can see not noticing to begin with because the information is disappeared.  

Africom Expelled From Niger Just Like Little French Bishes...,

abcnews  |   On Saturday, following the meeting, the junta’s spokesperson, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, said U.S. flights over Niger’s ter...