Re: [Pen-l] What good are economists?

[fmoseley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Quoting Bill Lear <rael@xxxxxxxxxx>:

> On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 12:21:47 (-0400) 
> fmoseley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> > Quoting Bill Lear <rael@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> >
> > > On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 09:37:39 (-0400)
> > > fmoseley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> > > > The reason why mainstream macroeconomists failed to predict the current
> > > > economic crisis, and continue to fail to understand and explain it, is
> > > > that their THEORIES ARE BAD.  ...
> > >
> > > I think this is nonsense.  Plenty of economists used their plain
> > > vanilla economics education to see a bubble forming and warned about
> > > it.  The problem is that most mainstream economists have a religious
> > > devotion to neoliberal "free markets", which when translated to
> > > English means "deregulation, public subsidies, union busting, the
> > > invisible handshake, war, demonizing the poor, a preferential option
> > > for the rich", etc.
> > > Bill
> >
> > Bill, don't you think that the lack of profit and debt in their
> > theories makes it next to impossible to understand crises in capitalism?
>
> No, not at all.  Theories, for responsible persons, are merely guides.
> Those who choose to look the other way and lead the cheers for capital
> are little better than propagandists.  There is probably a good reason
> "responsible" economists (irony quotes) ignore profit and debt: they
> are perfectly aware of what conclusions would be inevitable if they
> didn't.
>
>
> Bill


Bill,

I think I understand better what you are saying, and I agree with you 
in part.  You seem to be saying that economists cannot understand 
capitalism, not because they have a bad theory, but because they are 
"bad people" (i.e. apologists for capital).  And that bad theory is 
itself an inevitable result of this apologetic intent.  Perhaps so.

But I think bad theory also "seals the deal".  Capitalist crises cannot 
be understood without taking into consideration profit and debt.  And 
this would also apply to other mainstream economists who perhaps do not 
have this apologetic intent.

Fred

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