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by boomboomsubban 2765 days ago
>As an engineer and computational scientist, drawing conclusions from correlations like this is absurd. Maybe Reagan was good for income inequality or maybe he was bad for it. Did you control for the other variables before drawing your conclusions?

Drawing absolute conclusions in this area is nearly impossible, and we can't say with any certainty that Reaganomics caused this problem. The evidence does seem to suggest that the policies are not fixing the problem, which is a far easier claim to make. They might not be the cause, but it seems very likely they aren't the solution.
1 comments
setr 2765 days ago
Given that you don’t know what would occur without reagonimics, even that much isn’t safe to say. It’s quite possible that reagonimics is in fact helpful, just not enough to overcome other negatives in the environment (so in sum, a loss). Removal may very well increase the rate of inequality.

In other words, with just the evidence provided, you can’t safely say much of anything beyond “it started getting worse in the 80’s”

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boomboomsubban 2765 days ago
>Given that you don’t know what would occur without reagonimics, even that much isn’t safe to say.

Yes, I can. The current situation seems undesirable. While it's possible that the situation would be worse without Reaganomics, the actual situation is still undesirable. Looking towards the future, it seems unwise to continue a plan that led to undesirable results.

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JoshuaDavid 2765 days ago
Your argument proves too much. Consider the following example:

> You are diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Your doctor tells you to monitor your blood sugar and take insulin. This situation seems undesirable. While it is possible that the situation would be worse without monitoring your blood sugar and taking insulin, the actual situation is still undesirable. Looking towards the future, it seems unwise to continue a plan that led to undesirable results.

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boomboomsubban 2765 days ago
If Reaganomics came from a trained professional who were basing their recommendations on the best theory science had developed through experimentation, I would not advocate changing the policy. That is not the case though, as we both agree that reliable evidence is scant.

Going forward, there isn't a great theory showing that Reaganomics is worth continuing, and the hypothesis that different policies would provide a better outcome seems worthy of testing.

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