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by tatsuke95 5004 days ago
And we have statistical evidence from large numbers of economies. It's not perfect. We make a best guess and go for it. That's my point.

Contrary to popular belief, these guys aren't winging it. As I've said, go check out the research they're doing at the Fed. That's the cutting edge of economics.
1 comments
ucee054 5004 days ago
You are using a straw man to defend the indefensible.

"These guys" are clearly winging it, when we remember the definition of "These guys":

Ideologues touting Efficient Markets and the Washington Consensus, often in the pay of corporations, and using clearly falsified theories to do so.

(You can get an idea of how bought they are by watching "Inside Job".)

No one is saying that no economists anywhere ever got anything right. The problem is that the economists who do get things right are the dissenters from the orthodoxy of "These guys".

So why don't you go check out the research referenced at

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/07/29/escape-from-econo...

As for the Fed, Volcker's Fed yes, Greenspan and Bernanke's Fed no.

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tatsuke95 5003 days ago
>"So why don't you go check out the research referenced at"

I read plenty of economic research, thank you. Every day. So, while I appreciate a link to a what is essentially the site of a pundit (whom I have read, by the way), this is not the bleeding edge of economics. When is the last time this guy actually wrote a paper?

>"As for the Fed, Volcker's Fed yes, Greenspan and Bernanke's Fed no."

Right. So, Volcker, dealing with intense inflationary pressure in the 1980s, and Bernanke, dealing with massive deflationary pressures in 2008, should use the same policy tools? I'm sorry, but you clearly need to brush up on the basics before you go attacking someone for their lack of economic knowledge. This is pointless.

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ucee054 5000 days ago
I was referring to the Hudson book mentioned at the link, not Roberts's "punditry" as you call it.

Oh, and where did I say Volcker and Bernanke should use the same policy tools?

The big difference between Volcker and Greenspan is that Volcker stood up to congress, while Greenspan caved to the politicians and gave them the bubble they wanted. And politicized the Fed.

Or in your own words, "And much of the housing portion was political mandate."

Did you not know this?

And where did I attack you for lack of economic knowledge?

I attacked you for using strawman arguments and putting words in peoples' mouths, and I stand by that.

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