An economics, investment, trading and policy blog with a focus on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). We seek the truth, avoid the mainstream and are virulently anti-neoliberalism.
Shocking. We knew politicians, clerics, economists and prostitutes knew not how to tell truth. Now we find out that the scientists have been lying too. The tragedy of it all. Surely this depravity and lack of morality doesn't apply to the rest of humanity. I fear that all humans dance around, dawn bright colors and big swords to gain the respect and adoration of their tribe.
Maybe we could gin up the same public rage and indignation toward the academics as we did toward the oil, finance, and tobacco employees. Demand prison terms for academ-sters NOW.
Ryan, don't you think you're painting with a broad brush by writing, "the scientists have been lying too"? The linked piece identifies problems in the peer review process that in part contribute to perverse incentives to obfuscate, fib, or fabricate. Declining funding, increased production of PhDs, and flat # of tenure positions also contribute to these incentives. Scientists are human beings, and will make poor decisions. Findings such as these should lead us to seek to correct the systemic problems that encourage this behavior, not to condemn all scientists as amoral criminals. I'm sure all people who do whatever you do for a living are perfect paragons of virtue.
The incentives are screwed up. Scientists have careers, too, and the financial and career incentives don't encourage best practices. Then there is also the cozy relationship between Big Pharma and the health care industry.
Mine was meant sort of tongue in cheek. We read these leftist articles on this blog all the time about criminal banksters and irresponsible economists and street criminals. Most often the Academics consider themselves above it all in the lofty world of ideas. It is sort of refreshing to have the giant academic egos taken to task like the rest of us. I don't know how many hours of lectures and papers you've had to sit through/read with a scientist that claims overwhelming evidence for a solid piece of swiss cheese... but it can grow very tiresome yet gets referenced and used to guide policy for years or worse creates services and products that cause harm.
Ryan, your followup is quite accurate, so I withdraw my indignation from before. Yes, it would be more productive to treat the banking sector the same way as I suggested we treat science, that is, treat the root causes, certainly try to punish the worst offenders, and move on. Wholesale vilification of bankers or economists is dumb. The same could be said for politicians. To get better politicians, we need to take a look at the incentives. In this way Citizen's United has been particularly harmful.
I wrote a welcome to MMT note to Krugman, but he blocked it from entering comments.
ReplyDeleteI believe he is finaly in our camp:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/the-china-debt-syndrome/?_r=0#postComment
doesn't Krugman claim that he now "knew it all along" ?
ReplyDeleteexcept that he still keeps putting out his sign, saying that he doesn't know what he's talking about, when it comes to banking operations
the Fullwiler/Krugman exchanges were hilarious
back to this article; it's even MORE hilarious to hear the "Economist" say that real sciences include a lot of errors and false leads
ReplyDeleteA case of the crock calling the plumbing "aromatic" ?
Shocking. We knew politicians, clerics, economists and prostitutes knew not how to tell truth. Now we find out that the scientists have been lying too. The tragedy of it all. Surely this depravity and lack of morality doesn't apply to the rest of humanity. I fear that all humans dance around, dawn bright colors and big swords to gain the respect and adoration of their tribe.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could gin up the same public rage and indignation toward the academics as we did toward the oil, finance, and tobacco employees. Demand prison terms for academ-sters NOW.
Ryan, don't you think you're painting with a broad brush by writing, "the scientists have been lying too"? The linked piece identifies problems in the peer review process that in part contribute to perverse incentives to obfuscate, fib, or fabricate. Declining funding, increased production of PhDs, and flat # of tenure positions also contribute to these incentives. Scientists are human beings, and will make poor decisions. Findings such as these should lead us to seek to correct the systemic problems that encourage this behavior, not to condemn all scientists as amoral criminals. I'm sure all people who do whatever you do for a living are perfect paragons of virtue.
ReplyDeleteThe incentives are screwed up. Scientists have careers, too, and the financial and career incentives don't encourage best practices. Then there is also the cozy relationship between Big Pharma and the health care industry.
ReplyDeleteTom hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMine was meant sort of tongue in cheek. We read these leftist articles on this blog all the time about criminal banksters and irresponsible economists and street criminals. Most often the Academics consider themselves above it all in the lofty world of ideas. It is sort of refreshing to have the giant academic egos taken to task like the rest of us. I don't know how many hours of lectures and papers you've had to sit through/read with a scientist that claims overwhelming evidence for a solid piece of swiss cheese... but it can grow very tiresome yet gets referenced and used to guide policy for years or worse creates services and products that cause harm.
ReplyDeleteRyan, your followup is quite accurate, so I withdraw my indignation from before. Yes, it would be more productive to treat the banking sector the same way as I suggested we treat science, that is, treat the root causes, certainly try to punish the worst offenders, and move on. Wholesale vilification of bankers or economists is dumb. The same could be said for politicians. To get better politicians, we need to take a look at the incentives. In this way Citizen's United has been particularly harmful.
ReplyDeleteTom's right. It all comes back to the old joke:
ReplyDelete"The reason the infighting & backstabbing in academia is so intense ... is because the stakes are so low."
That's exactly why a giant sucking sound drew so many math/physics majors to Wall St the last 30 years.