The diary republished today was actually from yesterday. It's a review of a book that takes economics, among other subjects, to task for essentially being unscientific in nature. Now, I'm not going to argue one way or the other if that's true, though like on most issues, I do have my own opinion on the matter. I'll save that for another time. But there are some things we can say for certain.
When the market crashed at the end of 2008, like many people, I started doing some heavy reading trying to find out what the hell had happened. And like many people, I learned about the housing bubble, credit default swaps, the deregulation of the financial industry, the history of market fluctuations prior to those regulations, and so on. And I, as a layman, was able to take this information, look back at what had happened, and clearly see the tell-tale warning signs all along the way.
So first of all, we know right there that it doesn't take an economist to figure this stuff out. But that's hindsight, and economists will poo-poo us because as they'll tell you, this is all very complex stuff, and we laymen couldn't possible figure it all out without them doing all the hard work of predicting it for us.
That brings us to the second thing, which is that this crash was imminently predictable. If I, as a layman, can look back over our economic history and see how these things could and did lead to the crash, then economists, who are educated to figure this stuff out, should have seen it coming long before it happened. And to be fair, there were a few who did. Nouriel Roubini is one of the more prominent ones due to his nickname, Dr. Doom. But the vast majority failed. (Krugman, by the way, didn't jump on the doom train until very late in the game, so I kinda think of him as the Chris Mathews of economists.)
That leaves us with two possible conclusions.
1. The vast majority of economists are fuckups who would be doing society a favor by switching their jobs with street panhandlers (think Trading Places but without the comedy).
2. The economic theory these economists adhered to (called neoliberalism) is utter crap and should be tossed out with yesterday's garbage.
The fact that neither the economic theory nor the economists themselves are being thrown out tells us that the powers that be Believe (with a capital B) in the nonsense ideology these fools spout. Thus, economics, as it is being practiced today, is not a science.[1] It's a religion. And in fact, there is even a group dedicated to advancing this in conjunction with recognized religion, called The Fellowship[2] (aka The Family; C Street). And our supposed political leaders are its disciples.
And if that doesn't scare the ever-loving crap out of you, I don't know what will.
At this point, I usually try to ask a question or two to get the juices flowing, but all I've really got is, "what the hell are we supposed to do from here?" We're essentially in a stage of socio-economic upheaval where the economic zealots have been shown to be entirely bankrupt and yet remain firmly in control. What will it take to remove them from power? But I guess that's the fundamental question of all the discussions that occur on this and other lefty blogs, isn't it? Which is why I search for new ideas that challenge our thinking. The old stuff didn't work out too well, so continuing to do the same thing is not a recipe for success.
And on that somewhat somber note, the floor is yours.
----
[1] Important qualifier in this sentence, because I know someone will think they're catching me up by pointing to my opening paragraph where I said I wouldn't be arguing whether economics is unscientific or not. Whether or not it could be a science, I can't say for certain. Currently, it isn't. Think of it like Creationism. Just because that nonsense isn't science doesn't mean there isn't a scientific explanation for life on earth (e.g. evolution).
[2] Link goes to Wikipedia. Given the intensely political nature of this group, I suspect there are "errors" in the page. I offer it as a starting point, only. Google is always a good idea in these cases.
A Perfect Conversation is a group for republishing diaries that:
A) Challenge the DK conventional wisdom.
B) Provide information which may lead to new ideas.
or
C) Push for action that is innovative or not just playing defense.
The point is not to agree (or disagree) with these diaries. It's about challenging ourselves to rethink our political philosophies, activities, and issue positions.
A full list of all diaries republished to A Perfect Conversation can always be found
here. Feel free to check it out at any time.
Rec List from the Eclectic Boogaloo - April 18, 2011:
Diary Title
|
Diary Author
|
Comic book geeks: Invincible |
McGirk |
30 years ago- Watching the first Space Shuttle land |
Hawaii Tom |
My America - Pancho and Lefty |
twigg |
They're Hypocrites, and Here's Proof |
Korkenzieher |
A HOLE IN THE HEAD |
KAMuston |
For profit U.S. healthcare system declares class war on the working class on behalf of plutocracy |
Democrats Ramshield |
Miracle schools, vouchers and all that educational flim-flam |
teacherken |
We took over a Bank of America on Friday. |
US Uncut |
"Stuck on Stupid in DC": Van Jones to Power Shift (now with video) |
mightymouse |
I nearly republished this, but I couldn't find the words to explain why I wanted to, so I finally decided not to. Still, I think if you follow this group, you'll find the diary worth your time. |
T* |
Julie Waters |
Science, math and statistics books: Consilience: A New World View |
Limelite |
Notch Babies |
marykk |
Would you risk arrest to disrupt Climate Disruption? -- UPDATED |
A Siegel |
Leaked Congressional Report: Even 'Fracking' Companies Can't Identify All the Chemicals They Use |
Meteor Blades |
Donald Trump goes bankrupt. Four times. |
brooklynbadboy |
A Moment of Clarity |
Edger |
51 Tornadoes Confirmed Since Thursday, 7 Rated As EF-3 |
weatherdude |
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Club: Dune 4: Didn't See That One Coming |
quarkstomper |
Top Comments: Covers Edition |
brillig |
Nukes Shut Down With Heat Waves (Updated) |
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse |
Why are so many education "reformers" graduates of non-public schools? |
teacherken |
Presidential Signing Statements: What They Say And What They Do |
Armando |
The Conservabot Returns |
Tom Tomorrow |
US Chamber, Biggest Front Group for Fossil Fuel Industry, Has No Idea What's About to Hit Them |
Bill McKibben |
Why We Lose Every Budget War (and how to fix it) |
maddogg |
The Promise of Pie. |
Clarknt67 |
How a Racist Makes an Apology |
Adept2u |
things we can't talk about... |
boty |
Top Comments (4-18-2011): Republican Philosophy Revealed! |
gizmo59 |
Prosser Will "Block" Recount |
3goldens |
Updated by Gabriel D at Mon Apr 18, 2011 at 11:52 PM CDT
Forgot to spell check before publishing. Fixed.