tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post7283725922612777027..comments2024-02-11T06:00:30.938-07:00Comments on Skeptical Eye: Statistics are to Economics like Oil is to WaterNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09991410496107221875noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-72948375923291253172010-08-19T06:22:52.769-07:002010-08-19T06:22:52.769-07:00I love the claim that people who don't know an...I love the claim that people who don't know anything about economics apparently love Ludwig von Mises. Especially in light of the fact that I never expressed any specific praise for him or all of his ideas.<br /><br />I also love how people who know nothing about how the data is gathered continuously rely on it as well. There were others I could have mentioned, like Unemployment, the CPI, or the GDP, all of which measure a fraction of what could be measured or are too subjective to be accurately measured (like unemployment). But then I'd sound too much like Vox Day and I'd rather people read "The Return of the Great Depression" to get a better idea of what those indicators entail.<br /><br />The Dow Jones only reflects the trade among the top 30 companies in America, and they don't employ more than 2% of Americans, if that. My point was that the reporting on those numbers is treated like God Himself had written it in stone when the reality it is hardly reflective of the health of the economy. Oh, and that trade is limited solely to the stock market, if I understand it correctly.<br /><br />But then again, to quote H.L. Mencken, "You may be right."swiftfoxmark2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05065756739868968717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-80672016517809419322010-08-18T19:16:05.325-07:002010-08-18T19:16:05.325-07:00Can anyone explain to me why people who know nothi...Can anyone explain to me why people who know nothing about economics loves Mises? Is it because he's the only economist who says what non-economists want to hear? In biology, we call them "creationists."<br /><br />Also, this isn't the postmodern age, nor has it been for decades. You didn't even use it right, because what you're describing <i>is</i> postmodernism: a general rejection of intellectualism and institutionalized objective truth.<br /><br />You'll cringe when you find out what they're calling our current age of epitemology... post-postmodernism. It's too new for it to have a snappy name yet, so give it a few years (though by then it may be obsolete). If you want to understand where we're at philosophically, check out "Standpoint theory," and I hope you go beyond Wikipedia.<br /><br />I can't get over the fact you would rather use your judgment of what sounds right rather than observation through statistics. The Dow Jones isn't supposed to be a measure of the economy, it's a measure of the health of publicly traded companies across the major sectors of industry. What you're talking about is also tracked, though in seperate statistics and certainly not via only public traded companies, but people pay attention to the Dow because banks, retirement funds, and other large investors often have large stakes in those companies.<br /><br />I know your heart is in the right place... but seriously, fuck human instincts. The world seems flat, and look at how long we just assumed that. At some point, you have to acknowledge the experts who devote their life to something know more about it than you.<br /><br />I'm not saying have blind faith in experts, but you can't say "I don't get it," and then confidently claim it's wrong. If anything, I encourage you to dive head first, reading several different authors with several different opinions on the matter. I doubt you'll need much math, but it wouldn't kill you to learn any you do need.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02504734487692109101noreply@blogger.com