Economics is not a ....

[midcan5]

I have always marveled at the market, when I was young I suffered as most young people do the belief that the market made sense. As you age and as you look at your 401K or other investments you surely begin to wonder. One person wrote social security actually beat the market! Huh, that ain't supposed to happen. The Nobel prize in economics this year moved closer to social science than to economic science and there is good reason.

"That it has become easier to challenge the supremacy of God than to question the supremacy of the market testifies to the way any group can fall victim to a creation myth — especially when they are rewarded to do so."

'Economics Is Not Natural Science'

"The marketplace in which most commerce takes place today is not a pre-existing condition of the universe. It's not nature. It's a game, with very particular rules, set in motion by real people with real purposes. That's why it's so amazing to me that scientists, and people calling themselves scientists, would propose to study the market as if it were some natural system — like the weather, or a coral reef."

Edge: ECONOMICS IS NOT NATURAL SCIENCE By Douglas Rushkoff

Freakonomics’ Levitt Says Economists Will ‘Hate’ Nobel Choice - Bloomberg.com
"The economics profession is going to hate the prize going to Ostrom even more than Republicans hated the peace prize going to Obama,” Levitt wrote on the Economist’s View blog. “This award demonstrates, in a way that no previous prize has, that the prize is moving toward a Nobel in social science, not a Nobel in economics."

No Easy Answer to ‘Too Big to Fail,’ Nobelist Williamson Says - Bloomberg.com
Two Americans share Nobel prize for economics -- latimes.com
One man's retirement math: Social Security wins | csmonitor.com

"On the day when Saddam was caught, the bond market went up in the morning, and it went down in the afternoon. So here we had two headlines — "Bond Market Up on Saddam News," and in the afternoon, "Bond Market Down on Saddam News" — and then they had in both cases very convincing explanations of the moves. Basically if you can explain one thing and its opposite using the same data you don't have an explanation. It takes a lot of courage to keep silent." Nassim Nicholas Taleb

 

[Richard-H]

You make me feel so smart....

For a long time I've stated that economics is not a natural phenomenon, but a product of the environment as defined by the dominant military paradigm (i.e. the governement).

In our 'Free market' soceity, the government has basically failed in it's obligation to manage the economic environment that it has created, resulting in the present economic crisis.

But on another topic, why shouldn't social science dictate economics? Governement for and by the people has an obligation to manage the economic environment that it creates, why not for the benefit of it's people?

 

[Elutherian]

What a load of bullsh*t.

The Free Market is simply individuals making decision over their own property, voluntarily. Not that we have anything close to that now... but if that ain't natural, I don't know what is.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

You make me feel so smart....

For a long time I've stated that economics is not a natural phenomenon, but a product of the environment as defined by the dominant military paradigm (i.e. the governement).

In our 'Free market' soceity, the government has basically failed in it's obligation to manage the economic environment that it has created, resulting in the present economic crisis.

But on another topic, why shouldn't social science dictate economics? Governement for and by the people has an obligation to manage the economic environment that it creates, why not for the benefit of it's people?

Free market society? Where is this? Certainly not the United States.

 

[manu1959]

I have always marveled at the market, when I was young I suffered as most young people do the belief that the market made sense. As you age and as you look at your 401K or other investments you surely begin to wonder. One person wrote social security actually beat the market! Huh, that ain't supposed to happen. The Nobel prize in economics this year moved closer to social science than to economic science and there is good reason.

"That it has become easier to challenge the supremacy of God than to question the supremacy of the market testifies to the way any group can fall victim to a creation myth — especially when they are rewarded to do so."

'Economics Is Not Natural Science'

"The marketplace in which most commerce takes place today is not a pre-existing condition of the universe. It's not nature. It's a game, with very particular rules, set in motion by real people with real purposes. That's why it's so amazing to me that scientists, and people calling themselves scientists, would propose to study the market as if it were some natural system — like the weather, or a coral reef."

Edge: ECONOMICS IS NOT NATURAL SCIENCE By Douglas Rushkoff

Freakonomics’ Levitt Says Economists Will ‘Hate’ Nobel Choice - Bloomberg.com
"The economics profession is going to hate the prize going to Ostrom even more than Republicans hated the peace prize going to Obama,” Levitt wrote on the Economist’s View blog. “This award demonstrates, in a way that no previous prize has, that the prize is moving toward a Nobel in social science, not a Nobel in economics."

No Easy Answer to ‘Too Big to Fail,’ Nobelist Williamson Says - Bloomberg.com
Two Americans share Nobel prize for economics -- latimes.com
One man's retirement math: Social Security wins | csmonitor.com

"On the day when Saddam was caught, the bond market went up in the morning, and it went down in the afternoon. So here we had two headlines — "Bond Market Up on Saddam News," and in the afternoon, "Bond Market Down on Saddam News" — and then they had in both cases very convincing explanations of the moves. Basically if you can explain one thing and its opposite using the same data you don't have an explanation. It takes a lot of courage to keep silent." Nassim Nicholas Taleb

don't you wish you started buying gold instead.........

 

[JD_2B]

The primary reason the stock market has gone down, is because people aren't having as many children as they used to.. The decline in childbirths causes a big problem, because there are simply fewer people available to go shopping.

And before anyone says anything to the contrary- any company's economic well being rests primarily on how much of their product is purchased.. That is an undeniable fact.

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

Macroeconomics isn't a true, hard science and never will be without a time machine. There are too many variables to run repeatable experiments.

 

[Elutherian]

Macroeconomics isn't a true, hard science and never will be without a time machine. There are too many variables to run repeatable experiments.

By your picture alone, I can already tell we're gonna like each other.