“I suppose the worst thing for me to hear at this point is that there is some reason with which I am not yet familiar which prevents this from having grand scale detrimental effects on the economy,”
You know, I’m pretty sure they do.
I completely fail to comprehend why people actually listen to the talking heads on TV—or for that matter why heads of state listen to them—economics is not a particularly hard concept to wrap one’s head around (certainly no more complex than QM), and it seems that the profession is almost entirely dedictated to making up BS to justify the worst economic policies possible. Herp Derp, Production Good, Bailouts Bad, those are the basics. And yet these jokers who couldn’t predict the housing market collapse, who can’t even explain it, are still paid to mouth off on Fox and CNN.
No wonder he didn’t understand it—it’s like trying to make sense of Physics, when all you’ve ever heard is Star Trek technobabble.
Within the next year the US is going to see inflation coming back, and that ass Bernanke is actually going to think it’s a good thing!
The problem with educating the public—and you’re bang on about being nowhere near ‘diminishing returns’ - is two-fold. First of all, most Economists are absolute morons, who practice a faith more than a discipline. The second is that there are vested interests who want to maintain the status quo. Keynesianism has probably hurt millions over the years, but it sure as hell benefits the Keynesians, while promising the Voting Public bread and circuses.
Edit: I’m just going to link to this guy: http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/ He’s a lot smarter than me on economics. I can’t take credit for all of my ideas.
Within the next year the US is going to see inflation coming back
Based on what I’ve been reading, I disagree with this. Want to make a bet? ;)
“What I’ve been reading”, incidentally, is the blog of that arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman, who did, in fact, see the housing market collapse coming. And you disagree with Paul Krugman at your peril.
and that ass Bernanke is actually going to think it’s a good thing!
It would be, considering that we’re in a liquidity trap right now: the Federal Reserve can’t lower nominal interest rates any more because they’re basically zero. The only way they can lower real interest rates is to push them negative by promising that there will be more inflation in the future.
(And yes, hyperinflation is bad, but we’re in no danger of that.)
“What I’ve been reading”, incidentally, is the blog of that arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman, who did, in fact, see the housing market collapse coming.
He didn’t just see it coming, he spent the years of 2001-2003 calling for the record low interest rates with the goal of causing the housing bubble!
To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.
God willing, our intrepid macroeconomists will soon create another bubble to save us from the last bubble (which they created to save us from the bubble before that, etc.
“I suppose the worst thing for me to hear at this point is that there is some reason with which I am not yet familiar which prevents this from having grand scale detrimental effects on the economy,”
You know, I’m pretty sure they do.
I completely fail to comprehend why people actually listen to the talking heads on TV—or for that matter why heads of state listen to them—economics is not a particularly hard concept to wrap one’s head around (certainly no more complex than QM), and it seems that the profession is almost entirely dedictated to making up BS to justify the worst economic policies possible. Herp Derp, Production Good, Bailouts Bad, those are the basics. And yet these jokers who couldn’t predict the housing market collapse, who can’t even explain it, are still paid to mouth off on Fox and CNN.
No wonder he didn’t understand it—it’s like trying to make sense of Physics, when all you’ve ever heard is Star Trek technobabble.
Within the next year the US is going to see inflation coming back, and that ass Bernanke is actually going to think it’s a good thing!
The problem with educating the public—and you’re bang on about being nowhere near ‘diminishing returns’ - is two-fold. First of all, most Economists are absolute morons, who practice a faith more than a discipline. The second is that there are vested interests who want to maintain the status quo. Keynesianism has probably hurt millions over the years, but it sure as hell benefits the Keynesians, while promising the Voting Public bread and circuses.
Edit: I’m just going to link to this guy: http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/ He’s a lot smarter than me on economics. I can’t take credit for all of my ideas.
Based on what I’ve been reading, I disagree with this. Want to make a bet? ;)
“What I’ve been reading”, incidentally, is the blog of that arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman, who did, in fact, see the housing market collapse coming. And you disagree with Paul Krugman at your peril.
It would be, considering that we’re in a liquidity trap right now: the Federal Reserve can’t lower nominal interest rates any more because they’re basically zero. The only way they can lower real interest rates is to push them negative by promising that there will be more inflation in the future.
(And yes, hyperinflation is bad, but we’re in no danger of that.)
I would love to make a bet, but all I can offer up is a pint of blood. Nonetheless, thanks for the link.
He didn’t just see it coming, he spent the years of 2001-2003 calling for the record low interest rates with the goal of causing the housing bubble!
God willing, our intrepid macroeconomists will soon create another bubble to save us from the last bubble (which they created to save us from the bubble before that, etc.
That’s how a sane economy works.
Krugman’s comments on the quote