[derefr]

I think the parent means, we don't take as objective fact a politician's claims that their policies worked; we interpret it as self-aggrandizement and scrutinize the claims quite heavily. And that—given the push to publish and the fact that null-result studies aren't very publishable—we should likely do the same for research conclusions.

[ljw1001]

I understood, but I think recent evidence in the US suggests that a great many people absolutely take as objective fact what a politician claims. A similar number probably absolutely believe the opposite with little or no evidence. Net, I think citing politicians was perhaps not the best analogy.

[schmit]

Sorry I was not more clear. What I meant was that the NY Times employs journalists and fact checkers and editors to validate stories, say on politics to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that the articles they post are correct.

Why is that not the case here, where a professor is allowed to sell his own work? It is as if Obama is the NYT reporter for Obamacare.

That people believe politicians blindly is a topic for another day :)