Krugman: U.S. Needs Death Panels, Sales Taxes.

[Goo For You]

I think he's going for the "learning a new subject while poking fun at it" thing.

Double the fun, u know?

I actually think this one is relatively easy to pull off: All you need is semi-solid knowledge in one other related field (in this case, e.g. political or moral philosophy, sociology, history, or philosophy of science), and you can just choose your spots carefully and fire away. In the best case scenario, doing so will produce an eclectic conversation that broadens the horizons of both participants, and may even help to reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable worldviews.

Makes you wonder one thing, though: What will it look like when someone with zero knowledge in zero fields attempts this?

:

[stripes]

Makes you wonder one thing, though: What will it look like when someone with zero knowledge in zero fields attempts this?

:

uh, every other political thread?

[Goo For You]

Did you just explain my joke?






EDIT: Also, see this thread.

[MatthewT]

Christ. I'll have to dumb it down to the max, then:

The meaning of the sentence you partially quoted is "economists think there's no reason to assume debt (or taxes) will have a long-run effect on productivity, because not enough evidence to support this claim has been found."

Explain how this ruins the credibility of macroeconomics.

because it admits it cannot do what it claims it can do

[MatthewT]

This is hilarious I invented that cries like a bitch about Goo for you putting him on ignore. Goo for you takes Iit off ignore and actually tries to debate/explain economics to Iit. Iit clearly has no knowledge of economics beyond balancing a checkbook and the best he can do is say this is all theory we don't know if it work rather than come up with anything close to a counter argument.

I think Iit should have just stayed on ignore and shut up about it, this is getting sad.

is it really hilarious?

[MatthewT]

Any Economist: on the one hand, yes; on the other hand, no. where's my grant?

[Goo For You]

because it admits it cannot do what it claims it can do

It's not claiming what you're claiming it's claiming.

Now hush; you have homework to do.




EDIT:

Any Economist: on the one hand, yes; on the other hand, no. where's my grant?

Good one, gramps. Fresh material!

[MatthewT]

wow, how many times did you edit that?

[Goo For You]

Twice I think. My English sucks so I always check back on my posts to fix grammar and make the humor snappier.

How many times did you refresh my comment?

[MatthewT]

er, zero; it could have been one edit

but yeah, studying macroeconomics is supposed to project trends into the future; they can't do that; they fail

they might as well call themselves economic historians.

[Goo For You]

er, zero; it could have been one edit

Busted.

but yeah, studying macroeconomics is supposed to project trends into the future; they can't do that; they fail

Economists don't make forecasts; they infer market forecasts.

Think macroeconomists don't know what they're talking about? Take out a mortgage and bet it against low inflation for the foreseeable future.

they might as well call themselves economic historians.

What about those who are both?

[Avery]

Venezuela devalued its currency for the fifth time in nine years as ailing President Hugo Chavez seeks to narrow a widening fiscal gap and reduce a shortage of dollars in the economy.

The government will weaken the exchange rate by 32 percent to 6.3 bolivars per dollar, Finance Minister Jorge Giordani told reporters today in Caracas. The government will keep the currency at 4.3 per dollar for some products, he said.

A spending spree that almost tripled the government’s fiscal deficit last year helped Chavez win his third term. Chavez ordered the devaluation from Cuba, where he is recovering from cancer surgery, Giordani said. Venezuela’s fiscal deficit widened to 11 percent of gross domestic product last year from 4 percent in 2011, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The move can help narrow the budget deficit by increasing the amount of bolivars the government gets from taxes on oil exports. While a weaker currency may fuel annual inflation of 22 percent, it may ease shortages of goods ranging from toilet papers to cars.


Getting elected for running huge deficits. Government largesse forcing Hugo's hand into massive devaluation. Must suck for the people that have their savings in bolivars. But hey, thier stock market shot up. Lucky for us Americans that we don't live in such a world.

[Avery]

Devalued by 46%. The MSM used the wrong denominator.

[RiotGrip]

is it really hilarious?

Yes, the only solace Iit could ever take to think "he won" was someone putting him on ignore(you have the same warped belief system so you relate well). He kept calling this guy a pussy, and now that he is off ignore, his clear lack of knowledge once again becomes quite evident. I've said before that Iit may just be a complete right wing schtick troll, in which Goo for you (and myself many times) has fed him, but if Iit is for real he's just been laughably taken to school. Sorry you can't see the humor.

[HeinousMark]

Yes, the only solace Iit could ever take to think "he won" was someone putting him on ignore(you have the same warped belief system so you relate well). He kept calling this guy a pussy, and now that he is off ignore, his clear lack of knowledge once again becomes quite evident. I've said before that Iit may just be a complete right wing schtick troll, in which Goo for you (and myself many times) has fed him, but if Iit is for real he's just been laughably taken to school. Sorry you can't see the humor.

Every now and then, ITT posts something reasonable......it confuses me....

[Goo For You]

Iit may just be a complete right wing schtick troll, in which Goo for you (and myself many times) has fed him

Not possible. If he knew anything about the subjects we're discussing, he would be trolling a lot more efficiently.

For our purposes, being uninformed and being an uninformed troll are the same.

Every now and then, ITT posts something reasonable......it confuses me....

I think he's clearly trying; it's just that when he catches a glimpse of everything he doesn't know, he freaks out and his defence mechanism kicks in.

He can stand his own incompetence only a post or two at a time.

[I invented that]

economists are lucky, they never have to deal with pesky control groups to prove their work.

[Goo For You]

economists are lucky, they never have to deal with pesky control groups to prove their work.

Look up peer review. Look up applying for a job.

Look up the findings of all other academic fields, which affect the way economists do their research.



EDIT: Is it really that hard to comprehend that the learned world rightfully considers your own ill-informed opinions worthless?

[I invented that]

Look up peer review. Look up applying for a job.

Look up the findings of all other academic fields, which affect the way economists do their research.



EDIT: Is it really that hard to comprehend that the learned world rightfully considers your own ill-informed opinions worthless?

Peer review or circle jerk?

[Goo For You]

I listed three points and you could only come up with one jab?