Comments on: How Economists Got It Wrong

By: New Week, 10 New Links | The Big Picture

New Week, 10 New Links | The Big Picture — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:34:03 +0000

[...] The FT has a counterpoint to Krugman’s Sunday’s NYT magazine article: Why some economists could see the crisis coming (FT) From the [...]

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:27:29 +0000

also, upon further reading, impermanence’s 411 blast @ 4:11, above, works, admirably, as an explanation, too..

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:23:25 +0000

kaleberg,

‘Economics’, as learned by the majority of today’s Practioners, would be better understood as Politcal Science playing the Role of feudal liege to Finance.
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=feudal+liege

IOW, it is, as you allude, missing Key Pieces. That gauziness adds opacity to Oz’ Curtain..
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gauziness

By: kaleberg

kaleberg — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:01:33 +0000

Yes, Paul Krugman is politically biased. That’s just a synonym for generally correct, sort of the way that out of the mainstream means only supported by a majority of voters.

One thing that has always bothered me about economics is that it is curiously stateless. As a systems person, I’m used to thinking in terms of evolving state with the various interaction rules driving the changes. In my real world exposure to economics, state is constant and paramount. How much money do I have? What is my life expectancy? What is the current contract? How much are their assets worth? Most economics seems to ignore all these types of questions, so you get a corporate statement with revenues and expenses but no assets or liabilities. It’s like doing physics without a concept for mass or electronics without the concept of charge.

Both the fresh water and salt water economists seem to have a major oversight here.

By: impermanence

impermanence — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:11:33 +0000

You people are thinking way too hard. Economists didn’t get it any “wronger” then do physicians that over-test and over-prescribe, then attorneys that over litigate, then accountants that do ‘creative accounting,’ and the greatest whores of all time, then the financial community who relentlessly churn accounts, etc. This is the wholesale sell-out of the entire American professional class.

I know most professional people are intellectually impotent, but you would have to be a complete idiot to miss what was going on. This is simply the “thought leaders” of the professional class making excuse after excuse and excuse for incredibly un-professional behavior. What a pathetic joke.

By: gdonlyknows

gdonlyknows — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:35:48 +0000

Seattle @12:55 -

I’ve been telling clients for years to expect a 12-14 yr downturn beginning sometime around 2008-2009 (missed the beginning by a few months).

But, no one’s giving me Nobels and I’m too cheap to hire a PR firm to get me on CNBC.

I just hope the trading swings during those years are big enough to catch.

By: cewing

cewing — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:53:13 +0000

I disagree with point #6. There seems to be a permanent conservative political bias in Washington when it comes to money.

By: danm

danm — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:06:03 +0000

I recall reading somewhere that markets will always do whatever harms the greatest number of investors; this scenario certainly qualifies.
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Our system is supposed to be capitalism, meaning that a small number of individuals reap the rewards produced by the masses.

Somewhere along the way, our leaders told the masses to invest for its own retirement, with the idea that everybody would share in the profits and become a capitalist.

The problem is that everyone got so caught up in the illusion and got busy working long hours and running after their tails that rare si the soul that actually took the time to think about the feasibility of this system.

If everyone shares in the profits, then you’ve got socialism. But the system was never built to share, yet that is what the masses bought into. The proof is that we have not had such a large disprepencancy in wealth since the great depression. The masses have been duped.

So yes, I also agree that the cleansing will end when there will be no more money to be lost. We’re definiltely not there yet.

By: Why Economists Messed Up « Donald Marron

Why Economists Messed Up « Donald Marron — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:02:56 +0000

[...] commentary: EconomistMom, Barry Ritholz, Paul Kedrosky, Brad DeLong, and Paul Krugman [...]

By: danm

danm — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:54:24 +0000

e.g., it is clear he is only a strong Keynesian when employment is in freefall and the economy is against the zero interest-rate boundary where monetary policy is helpless. In
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Since most if not all economic schools of thought typically focus on a couple of variables amid a sea of varibles that make up an economy, I am weary of any economist who clings to one shcool of thought throughout their entire career when circumstances change.