Saturday, April 25, 2015

On Mainstream Historians and Economics

Most of them are economically illiterate and fail to understand even the rudiments of the business cycle. I mean, just look at the way that they treat FDR and the Depression. If they criticize the fellow at all, it's almost always of the viewpoint that he didn't do (as in, misallocate) ENOUGH (they apparently buy into this cockamamie notion that government-centric approaches to debt consolidation and economic growth are preferable to those of the market) and they always, ALWAYS, ignore the part that the Federal Reserve Bank played in creating the whole mess. Yes, we do want an unbiased perspective, preferably, but to not have any theoretical framework (other than a statist one, I'm saying) and actually believe that history will somehow write itself is a wee-bit naive, in my opinion.

2 comments:

Les Carpenter said...

Off topic folks but have you caught Dervish Sanders recent revival? Seems he has been busy with research and is fully armed and loaded for bear.

Intellectual dishonestly (as well as honesty) is heavily intertwined with facts in his recent post on GN's (gun nuts) I must say after sorting it all out (took me a bit of time) he makes some valid observations.

As to this post, my only comment is that while markets are self correcting and generally do better than government centric approaches to controlling the market markets have no conscious in and of themselves. Therefore they are only as ethical, moral if you prefer, as the people controlling them. I see a problem, do you? Especially given few people really grasp the concept of long term rational self interest. Perhaps a topic for another day?

dmarks said...

I'm willing to give Dervish Sanders a fresh start. I can, and have, accurately described the quantity and quality of the huge number of posts he has tried to put on my blog. I'm find with leaving this, and the bit about the Stalin quote and other such matters...., in the past, if he is willing to do something similar and mature: such as removing the sock puppet "Lying Lester", "Willis", "Dennis" etc blogs. And instead deal only with what people actually say.