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If you've come here for informed commentary on economics, so far it seems the comments section is about par for the course by internet standards. If you're look

If you've come here for informed commentary on economics, so far it seems the comments section is about par for the course by internet standards. If you're looking for informed professional analysis, I highly recommend the Inside Economics podcast by Moody's Analytics[0]. They post at least once per week and they often discuss recession odds, they break down the causes of inflation, and regularly host industry experts. (One of my favorites was an episode featuring an economist that works for a US car manufacturer and the insight they could give into the economics of new vs used cars and how auto makers are having to adapt to new economics of vehicles.) [0] https://about.moodys.io/podcast-series/moodys-talks-inside-economics https://about.moodys.io/podcast-series/moodys-talks-inside-e...

sghiassy 4y ago
Thanks for the link
ericns 4y ago
Hmmm, Moody's where do I remember that name from? Oh ya here it is - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/14/moodys-864m-penalty-for-ratings-in-run-up-to-2008-financial-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/14/moodys-864m... Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes.
- millimeterman 4y ago
  > Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes. Why does nonsense like this get parroted so much? Economics is as much a science as any other social science. Which is to say that it's certainly imperfect and is subject to social problems surrounding science (e.g. the replication crisis), but it's still very much a science. Obviously it's an evolving field with many areas of disagreement among experts, but what science isn't? Plenty of economic principles/models have strong predictive power and broad consensus from economists. As for your (apparent) critique, economics currently isn't very good at long-term (especially macroeconomic) forecasting. But then science isn't great at predicting weather or earthquakes long term, yet we don't dismiss those fields as lies propagated by the elite. This isn't a defense of Moody's or anything - they may well have ignored the risks of mortgage-backed securities for financial gain, and I can't speak to the accuracy of their podcast. But your argument seems no different than claims that because pharmaceutical companies have lied and caused harm in the name of profits, the entire field of medicine is nothing but lies and propaganda and we should throw it out and switch to curing cancer with juice cleanses.
  - effingwewt 4y ago
    The correct analogy would be the Healthcare system as a whole, and it would indeed hold water. Social sciences is a complete misnomer. It should be social theories, there's zero scientific basis for them. You can't compare the science of the physics of the universe to gender studies and economics. One studies the laws of the universe, the other simply talks about an irrational thing irrational beings created, and pretends its science.
    - imbnwa 4y ago
      This is also Michel Foucault's critique of the Leninist-Marxist use of the word 'science'
      - effingwewt 4y ago
        Hadn't heard of that before, thanks for sharing I had to look it up. Many pseudo-sciences seem to do this to steal credibility. For my downvoters, if you doubt what I said, take a look at this rambling incoherent mess that is this thread's comments. No one can even describe our economy anymore due to the complexity, we have economic 'laws' that are no more than one person's opinion. It's just a mess. I don't know what the solution is, but this ain't it.
  - ernirulez 4y ago
    I totally agree with this comment. You put my thoughts into words. Unfortunately that kind of cheap comments (Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes.) are quite common over the internet and mainstream media. Just enough to keep people not thinking about it and everything is a lie by the elite and we can do nothing about it.
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
    Any economic thought a bit further left than left-of-center gets quickly deemed "not economics." Phrased differently, the field of economics dismisses any economic thought that doesn't serve the interests of capital and the people with the capital. I don't think people take an issue with economists' predictions as much as their prescriptions. Younger econ doctoral candidates would do well to spend some time hanging out with the political scientists on campus. (They largely are doing this.) The field will move forward one death at as time.
- lujim 4y ago
  Thanks for posting the link so I didn't have to.

sghiassy 4y ago

Thanks for the link

ericns 4y ago

Hmmm, Moody's where do I remember that name from? Oh ya here it is - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/14/moodys-864m-penalty-for-ratings-in-run-up-to-2008-financial-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/14/moodys-864m... Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes.

millimeterman 4y ago
> Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes. Why does nonsense like this get parroted so much? Economics is as much a science as any other social science. Which is to say that it's certainly imperfect and is subject to social problems surrounding science (e.g. the replication crisis), but it's still very much a science. Obviously it's an evolving field with many areas of disagreement among experts, but what science isn't? Plenty of economic principles/models have strong predictive power and broad consensus from economists. As for your (apparent) critique, economics currently isn't very good at long-term (especially macroeconomic) forecasting. But then science isn't great at predicting weather or earthquakes long term, yet we don't dismiss those fields as lies propagated by the elite. This isn't a defense of Moody's or anything - they may well have ignored the risks of mortgage-backed securities for financial gain, and I can't speak to the accuracy of their podcast. But your argument seems no different than claims that because pharmaceutical companies have lied and caused harm in the name of profits, the entire field of medicine is nothing but lies and propaganda and we should throw it out and switch to curing cancer with juice cleanses.
- effingwewt 4y ago
  The correct analogy would be the Healthcare system as a whole, and it would indeed hold water. Social sciences is a complete misnomer. It should be social theories, there's zero scientific basis for them. You can't compare the science of the physics of the universe to gender studies and economics. One studies the laws of the universe, the other simply talks about an irrational thing irrational beings created, and pretends its science.
  - imbnwa 4y ago
    This is also Michel Foucault's critique of the Leninist-Marxist use of the word 'science'
    - effingwewt 4y ago
      Hadn't heard of that before, thanks for sharing I had to look it up. Many pseudo-sciences seem to do this to steal credibility. For my downvoters, if you doubt what I said, take a look at this rambling incoherent mess that is this thread's comments. No one can even describe our economy anymore due to the complexity, we have economic 'laws' that are no more than one person's opinion. It's just a mess. I don't know what the solution is, but this ain't it.
- ernirulez 4y ago
  I totally agree with this comment. You put my thoughts into words. Unfortunately that kind of cheap comments (Economics is the lies told by some middle class assholes with a degree and/or credential that get paid just enough by upper class assholes to trick low class rubes.) are quite common over the internet and mainstream media. Just enough to keep people not thinking about it and everything is a lie by the elite and we can do nothing about it.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
  Any economic thought a bit further left than left-of-center gets quickly deemed "not economics." Phrased differently, the field of economics dismisses any economic thought that doesn't serve the interests of capital and the people with the capital. I don't think people take an issue with economists' predictions as much as their prescriptions. Younger econ doctoral candidates would do well to spend some time hanging out with the political scientists on campus. (They largely are doing this.) The field will move forward one death at as time.
lujim 4y ago
Thanks for posting the link so I didn't have to.