• @[email protected]
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    484 months ago

    I refuse to believe economists have the best of intentions in mind when they write in absolutes lol. Too many refuse to factor human costs and irrationality into their calculations, Friedman being one of main examples.

    I’m sure there are economists that do, but the few I’ve spoken to talk about people abstractly and as expendables.

    • @[email protected]
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      4 months ago

      Yeah it’s batshit that an economist won a nobel prize for his theory that people don’t act 100% rationally so that’s why economic models were failing to predict reality.

      Like, I’m sure it wasn’t obvious and I’m not trying to sound like I’m smarter than economists, but holy fuck duh

      • @[email protected]
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        84 months ago

        My economics teacher would publicly fellate Alan Greenspan in class. Cue the subprime mortgage crisis and Mr Greenspan is out there going “I didn’t account for bankers being stupid and greedy.”

      • @iknowitwheniseeit
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        74 months ago

        Hahaha that’s fantastic! Do you remember who it was? I’d love to read about this…

        • @[email protected]
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          84 months ago

          duckduckgo’d: ‘economist won a nobel prize for his theory that people don’t act 100% rationally so that’s why economic models were failing’ results was this:(theconversation(dot)com link), so I guess Richard Thaler is who you’re looking for.

        • @[email protected]
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          34 months ago

          It’s like people are the ones doing the things that create an economy so economists should be integrating the study of human psychology into economic theory.

          Which, to the credit of the discipline seems to be happening finally (at least more than it was in the past).

    • @[email protected]
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      34 months ago

      I refuse to believe economists have the best of intentions in mind when they write in absolutes

      The same can be said for most professions when they think in terms of absolutes.

      The world isn’t binary, and treating it in those terms almost always creates worse outcomes.