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87 sats \ 6 replies \ @SimpleStacker 8h \ on: Why America gave up on economists econ
I think his analysis is mostly correct.
But, I think this recent post by @denlillaapan also highlights another problem with economists. They tend to have a view of the world where people are just "maximally rational consumers", and ignore a lot of non-consumptive factors like human dignity, identity, pride, heritage, religion, morality, etc.
In a world where the political fissures are increasingly seen as moral and existential, it's not surprising that this group of experts that tends to ignore moral arguments is falling out of favor.
I’m not really familiar with how all the economist–politician stuff works, but I agree that the points you mentioned should be taken into account, because in the end, the economy is mostly about people.
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ignore a lot of non-consumptive factors like human dignity, identity, pride, heritage, religion, morality, etc.
Perhaps... but consider the opposite case, where economists did spout much opinion on those things. Wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't you rightly tell them off ("wth do you know of human dignity and identity, fuckface?") and have them stay in their lane?
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Well the way I think it should enter into the economists' discourse is to moderate their opinions / orthodoxies. It isn't meant as a green light for them to spout their metaphysical opinions.
Economists should be more like, "Yeah, we have a labor shortage and immigration can help with that, but yeah we can understand why people want to preserve their historical culture." Or, "Yeah, the market is continually expanding access to a wide variety of goods and services, but yeah the fact that you have to rent everything now and can't afford to own anything feels bad man"
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New econ policy just dropped. Everyone should change their utility function from
u(x) = \ln x to u(x) = \infty. Infinite happiness from a simple change in mindset!reply
amazing!
Crazy that nobody thought about that. Nobel Prize to SimpleSTacker!
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