It’s easy to overestimate the differences between UMass and more mainstream departments. The empirical microeconomics Dube does is not too different from what David Card, David Autor, Raj Chetty, and other macroeconomists in more mainstream departments do. Pollin helped the Department of Energy implement the green portions of the stimulus, which was designed initially by mainstreamers like Larry Summers. And even the “left Keynesians” of Amherst don’t go as far as some of their peers at, say, the University of Missouri – Kansas City in dismissing the possibility of high deficits leading to inflation later on.
“It’s almost a talmudic claim that since no country with its own currency can go bankrupt, no deficit can be bad,” Epstein says. “They’ve made important contributions, and a lot of them are my friends, but we try to look at things more critically and not assume there are absolutes.”
But the department’s radical openness to alternate perspectives still sets it apart. “Learn from Marx, learn from Keynes, learn from Hayek,” Pollin says. “One of the biggest influences on me personally was Milton Friedman. He was very engaged with real world questions, and he made no bones about his ideological predilections.”
The Washington Post — Wonkblog
Inside the offbeat economics department that debunked Reinhart-Rogoff
Dylan Matthews
11 comments:
Yeah RR are pretty disgraced.... still no word that I can find about their future at INET, who knows they may get promoted over this episode there...
They probably debunked debt-moron Bob Woodward too come to think of it...
Nixon: 'we're all Keynesians now...'
Woodward: 'the debt is unsustainable!'
Where is 'investigative reporter' Bob Woodward on the RR scandal????
Matthews might be the only one over there who has a clue as to what is reality....
While I had watched Real News interviews of R Pollin and was somewhat familiar with PERI,
I was unfamiliar with the history wrt the Economics staff at the U Mass. Thanks for this link.
Twitter Exchange with Dylan on his post:
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd @TheStalwart @dylanmatt I noticed the quote in my next tweet.
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@TheStalwart @dylanmatt “It’s almost a talmudic claim that since no country with its own currency can go bankrupt, no deficit can be bad,”
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@TheStalwart @dylanmatt I've never seen #MMT economist make that "talmudic claim" or similar. Have you? If not, shouldn't Dylan update post?
Dylan MatthewsVerified account @dylanmatt @joefirestonephd @thestalwart I'm in the business of accurately quoting the things people say to me. So no.
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@dylanmatt @TheStalwart Very often when someone gives an opinion on what someone else thinks, you seek balance. Why not this time?
Dylan MatthewsVerified account @dylanmatt @joefirestonephd @thestalwart Because the article was not about MMT.
Dylan MatthewsVerified account @dylanmatt@joefirestonephd @thestalwart I'll remember to quote climate change deniers next time I write about that, if it pleases you.
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@dylanmatt @TheStalwart Ah . . . Then why why was Professor Epstein quoted to that effect?
Dylan MatthewsVerified account @dylanmatt @joefirestonephd @thestalwart I was explaining how the UMass folks think of MMT. Because the post was about UMass. Not everything's abt MMT.
Dan Kervick @DanMKervick
@dylanmatt @joefirestonephd @TheStalwart That's fair enough ... can't cover everything in a single article.
Dan Kervick @DanMKervick
@dylanmatt @joefirestonephd @TheStalwart Maybe more accurate picture can be presented later?
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@dylanmatt @TheStalwart Didn't say it was. I'm not the one who included an inaccurate drive-by hit at UMKC views in the article.
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@DanMKervick @dylanmatt @TheStalwart Right. Can't cover everything. So, why include the paragraph with the drive-by at all?
Dylan Matthews @dylanmatt 5h
@joefirestonephd @danmkervick @thestalwart You're totally right. Twitter can convinced me I should go back to ignoring MMT whenever possible
Joseph M. Firestone @joefirestonephd
@dylanmatt @DanMKervick @TheStalwart Or at least find out what UMKC economists really think about deficits? -:) -:) -:)
Pretty clear, in my view, that Dylan selectively quoted to get a drive-by, gratuitous hit, which he must have known was untrue, because he got enough push back on his earlier MMT post about about the MMT stance on deficits.
The problem is that it is not that easy to get a job in the media and the price is conforming to the corporate culture, for which one is well-compensated in comparison with the work that one actually does or the abilities on has. So it is the opportunity to extract economic rent, and the price is prostituting yourself.
Very few are able to walk away from it once they figure it out. Props to Cenk Ugyar for doing so when he was at MSNBC, which is actually a "leftie" place in comparison with WaPo, which is a conservative bastion.
Yes, I agree with you, Tom.
One of the problems with the media in addition to ownership, which establishes the culture, is the fact that the industry is funded not by users but by advertisers. This is another elite group that has to be figured into the influence mix.
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