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I don't understand economics well enough to have a valid opinion either way on these issues. But "revisionism" seems like an inappropriate (and loaded?) word f

by endtime 18y ago

I don't understand economics well enough to have a valid opinion either way on these issues. But "revisionism" seems like an inappropriate (and loaded?) word for something that very much seems to be interpretation-based. It can't really be a documented fact that certain policies caused a given outcome, especially in a field as complex as economics.

kiba 18y ago
It is not that the field of economics is complex but rather there is a bunch of competing school of economics. In other word, economic is still in its infancy. However, I have to say that the interpretation of the new deals actually goes all the way before the great depression. You have economicsts like Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek warning of a major economic crisis before the stock market crash of 1929. If there is any economic school I am willing to bet on, it is the Austrian School of Economics. After all, those who are of the Austrian tradition correctly predicted the current housing crisis, now. Their preceddesors predicted the Great depression.
cia_plant 18y ago
Among historians, "revisionism" is not a loaded word - it just means a challenge to the common theories about a time period. The term is tarnished outside the field because the most visible revisionists are simply denying well-documented historical facts for political reasons (e.g., the holocaust, the rape of Nanking, etc.)
- endtime 18y ago
  Ah, thanks for explaining that. I'm not a historian (as you might have guessed) and I was thinking of revisionism in the context of Holocaust denial etc.
MaysonL 18y ago
Revisionism, in this case, is an entirely appropriate word. It may not be a documented fact that certain policies caused a given outcome, but the fact that a given outcome occurred is just that: a fact. Denying the facts, or misstating them, is revisionism of the worst sort, and that is what was going on. See my other post in this thread for a link to further information.

by endtime 18y ago

kiba 18y ago

It is not that the field of economics is complex but rather there is a bunch of competing school of economics. In other word, economic is still in its infancy. However, I have to say that the interpretation of the new deals actually goes all the way before the great depression. You have economicsts like Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek warning of a major economic crisis before the stock market crash of 1929. If there is any economic school I am willing to bet on, it is the Austrian School of Economics. After all, those who are of the Austrian tradition correctly predicted the current housing crisis, now. Their preceddesors predicted the Great depression.

cia_plant 18y ago

Among historians, "revisionism" is not a loaded word - it just means a challenge to the common theories about a time period. The term is tarnished outside the field because the most visible revisionists are simply denying well-documented historical facts for political reasons (e.g., the holocaust, the rape of Nanking, etc.)

endtime 18y ago
Ah, thanks for explaining that. I'm not a historian (as you might have guessed) and I was thinking of revisionism in the context of Holocaust denial etc.

MaysonL 18y ago

Revisionism, in this case, is an entirely appropriate word. It may not be a documented fact that certain policies caused a given outcome, but the fact that a given outcome occurred is just that: a fact. Denying the facts, or misstating them, is revisionism of the worst sort, and that is what was going on. See my other post in this thread for a link to further information.