Friday, May 6, 2016

Dylan Matthews — Ben Carson is helping Donald Trump pick a VP. He's also a devoted conspiracy theorist.

Donald Trump has announced that a familiar face will assist in his hunt for a running mate: Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon turned conservative heartthrob turned failed 2016 candidate. Given Carson's newfound influence on the campaign of the Republican nominee, it's worth looking back and remembering some of what we learned about him during the primaries.…
Vox
Ben Carson is helping Donald Trump pick a VP. He's also a devoted conspiracy theorist.
Dylan Matthews

7 comments:

Simsalablunder said...

Yeah, you want all the help you can get from people who think Egyptian pyramids are old barns. He can start carrying plasterboards at Trumps building sites.

Ignacio said...

Looking how to tap into the nutcase camp?

What a freak show lol...

Matt Franko said...

Maybe we can get him on board the MMT "neo-liberal conspiracy!" bandwagon too...

Matt Franko said...

Nothing like using a good conspiracy theory or stochastic analysis to explain things we dont understand....

Tom Hickey said...

Nothing like using a good conspiracy theory or stochastic analysis to explain things we dont understand....

That the purpose of conventional economics in dealing with a complex adaptive system that it is clueless about the operation of. The problem is that is uses the wrong type of model — mechanical rather than organic.

At least Hayek is consistent in his laissez-faire conclusion in The Use of Knowledge in Society. If you can't understand it, don't mess with it and assume that if it is not completely random then some hidden order that we cannot understand will spontaneously result through the operation of market forces in perfect markets through the price system.

The specious move, however, is in assuming that this hidden order will spontaneously result in social and economic "optimization" based on the way that natural processes work (invisible hand). "Perfect" markets just moves the problem that Hayek states about imperfect knowledge back a step. Based on imperfect knowledge, markets are inherently imperfect. Asymmetries in competition lead to the rise of concentration of social status, political power and economic wealth.

The problem with this is that nature operates using culling and extinction, and humans are not likely to be passive socially and politically in the face of that. The so-called optimization based on completion results in conflict. Asymmetries result in competition and conflict among the haves and between the haves and have-nots.

This conflict arises between the most successful competitors in terms of tribes and nations competing for position and resources, as will as among elites within groups. Conflict among the most successful results in war, which is a form of culling.

The less competitive are culled by being deprived of resources, since they are at the lower end of the distribution chain.

As a result, some individuals and societies prefer to cooperate rather than compete to reduce conflict, and also introduce organization that can respond to emergent challenges arising from complexity based on feedback, experiment and learning. So far no economic model has been formulated to account for this, so we are flying by the seat of our pants.

Simsalablunder said...

"Maybe we can get him on board the MMT "neo-liberal conspiracy!" bandwagon too..."

Impossible. One stupid made up idea is more than enough to keep track on and repeat ad nauseam. Two and those ideas would be mixed up where barns are places Egyptians hold annual MMT conferences and Grant with a standing invitation.

Matt Franko said...

Sims dont give them any ideas....