It isnt.
Krugman on Piketty: Why we're in a new Gilded Age
- Thread starter Julius Skrrvin
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Maybe not, but I do find it funny how I was trying to warn people about this unfettered clinging to economic data to influence policy without understanding the assumptions they makemaybe i'm a dumbass but this doesn't look to be the epic Gotcha it's being purported to be.
so data is not 100% reliable?
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I'm not saying that.
I'm saying that this stuff often masquerades as having more suggestive power than it really does.
So the data is not useful?
As data, sure. But data without context is just data.
The problem is when we try and make inferences from it.
Listen. Probably 100% of this board is not anywhere near the top 1-2%. Clearly.
But my problem with some of this discussion comes when we want to talk about policy.
Like...lets say inequality is increasing. Is that inherently bad? Is closing that gap inherently good? How does the expansion and shift of the type and mode of the economy adjust for this?
It seems like WAY too much hand-waving is going on just to appeal to liberal or conservative sensitivities.
You don't think Piketty had the context right?
Brown_Pride
All Star
yes and no.
Data can be manipulated, not that that is what's been done here.
exactly.
People, especially when politically motivated, tend to jump the gun. I'll be honest to me the conclusion is something i've thought for a really long time and really common sense lends itself to that idea, and apparently so do many other studies. NEver the the less I'm open to the idea that it's wrong...people with political agendas very rarely are.
Ehhhhh
I'm not an economist...but I do try to understand what they want to do, which is influence policy. Thats the entire point of economics...cause its certainly NOT a science. Its not predictive in any serious manner.
It just seems ridiculous to me to compare things like 1900 to...2014. And have anyone take that seriously is just absurd to me. In ANY context.
Are you familiar with Adam Curtis documentaries?
no.
Should i get familiar with them?no.
Yeah.
He's got THREE BBC documentary series that are worth watching one weekend.
Century of the Self (my favorite)
The Power of Nightmares
The Trap
Adam Curtis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Each are about 3 hours long.
I take that as a "no"?
seen the first two several years ago
highly recommended