'Let's Go!' Top Economist Applauds as Harris Signals Support for Billionaires Tax - eviltoast
  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    “Top Economist” is a funny phrase. Kinda like saying “leading soothsayer”.

    Don’t think I don’t have sympathy or respect for the economist. I just notice that it’s the only academic discipline that pledges and is expected to predict the future.

    Just like experts in criminal trials, economists can be selected to prove what you already know. And just like horoscopes, it’s all very convincing until you measure the predictions against reality.

    • hyperreal@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I have a PhD in economics. Saying that the field “pledges” to be able to predict the future is pretty disingenuous. You’d be hard pressed to find any serious researcher in the field with that level of delusion.

    • LibreHans@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      the only academic discipline that pledges and is expected to predict the future

      Huh? Ever heard of climate science?

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Or even just astronomy. They can predict a comet’s position long before it gets to where they predict it will be. And they will be right.

    • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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      2 months ago

      Its a field where the actions and the effects are so separated from each other that its easy to pick and choose what effected what. This was not due to this but due to an earlier decision or not if someone wants it the other way. Leads to folks making conclusions based on their own personal economics. The purists will at least be lead by core philosophies. My personal one is that money has no actual resting value (value is based on issuing entity based on debt and revenue [taxation] and not in the substance excepting its physical makeup if any) and only has value in a transaction (at which point it has value in relation to the transaction and its actualized). A bit like potential and kinetic energy.