tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post398227403539816474..comments2024-03-28T03:16:14.104-04:00Comments on Noahpinion: PSST: The end of economics as we know itNoah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-87693820860984525022012-02-22T11:25:30.266-05:002012-02-22T11:25:30.266-05:00And @Chris_Gaun thinks that economist are a bit li...And @Chris_Gaun thinks that economist are a bit like rabbis:<br /><br />1) They argue A LOT about the writings of old dead white men.<br />2) You can never get two of them to agree on anything... Actually, you can ONLY get them to agree that the third guy is a doofus. <br /><br />But, you know, I still love the field.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02158108097139587199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-63698134763408231262011-08-06T18:40:03.175-04:002011-08-06T18:40:03.175-04:00Interesting post, but I guess I don't see how ...Interesting post, but I guess I don't see how your final point follows. Generally speaking, the more complex something is, the less likely we are able to manipulate it, right?<br /><br />I mean, if someone wanted to rip the Freakonomics guys and their ideas for geo-engineering, it would help to point out how complex the climate system is, right?Bob Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001108408649311528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-3540847615817525872011-06-02T09:31:53.702-04:002011-06-02T09:31:53.702-04:00J Thomas, it's not that he has low-life friend...J Thomas, it's not that he has low-life friends, but that he was a prominent, ah..., worker at that place.Barry DeCiccohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735814736387033844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-25765145091890460122011-06-02T00:09:26.266-04:002011-06-02T00:09:26.266-04:00Barry, you shouldn't discount somebody just be...Barry, you shouldn't discount somebody just because he has a bunch of low-life friends.J Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03201350482758221085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-52518516309239782742011-06-01T23:59:09.944-04:002011-06-01T23:59:09.944-04:00Take a look at Steve Keen's simulation model. ...Take a look at Steve Keen's simulation model. You can download it and run it.<br /><br />http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/qed/Steve Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11895481216028771016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-63097244365647022882011-06-01T08:26:09.132-04:002011-06-01T08:26:09.132-04:00Since when has Arnold Kling been a reliable source...Since when has Arnold Kling been a reliable source? We are talking about a Tech Central Station regular, right?Barry DeCiccohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735814736387033844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-14053422181961758862011-05-31T20:11:05.734-04:002011-05-31T20:11:05.734-04:00I only glanced over the New Keynesian article but ...I only glanced over the New Keynesian article but it seems to me that the it leans towards John Kenneth Galbraith's ideas on administered prices. <br /><br />That is, it looks a lot like the "The New Industrial State" all mathed up, if you will.Noah Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04227692422820068840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-17617120027008148932011-05-31T16:45:57.158-04:002011-05-31T16:45:57.158-04:00This is a massive non-sequitur, and demonstrates a...This is a massive non-sequitur, and demonstrates again Hayek's point about how equilibrium constructs, both micro and macro, frequently damage the ability of economists to understand the functioning of the market -- i.e. they cause more harm than good.<br /><br />You wrote.<br /><br />"In other words, in a PSST world, there is no invisible hand.<br /><br />This opens the door for a hugely expanded role for government (or other large, centralized actors) in the macroeconomy."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-53614067371002199272011-05-31T16:41:59.016-04:002011-05-31T16:41:59.016-04:00Kling's PSST is just Hayek's macro without...Kling's PSST is just Hayek's macro without a time structured & inter-related network of production processes (time structured by the fact that agents will not extend the time length of a production process without the promise of greater output).<br /><br />Hayek has many papers on the nature of explanation concerning complex phenomena, and the inadequacy of statistics and "Keynesian" macro relations to give us causal understanding of the interactions of the elements involved.<br /><br />This was the origin of Hayek's massively influential work on the price system as an information signaling system.<br /><br />It even helped inspire the Lucas revolution.<br /><br />As a Grad student, you aren't taught any history of economic thought -- and for a reason.Greg Ransomhttp://hayekcenter.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-77413687147051046742011-05-31T12:10:42.176-04:002011-05-31T12:10:42.176-04:00YES. Thank you. I have made similar (I think) clai...YES. Thank you. I have made similar (I think) <a href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/09/recalculation_v.html" rel="nofollow">claims</a> in Kling's comment threads before, but Kling has not picked up on the issue.<br /><br />Standard Austrian calculation argues that markets extract information 'correctly', but PSST abandons this; there is simply no reason to think that the process of 'recalculating' toward another PSST will reach a desirable equilibrium (or reach a PSST equilibrium at all). It is well and fine to mock New Keynesians for their adherence to rationality, but abandoning it entails dealing with other problems like this.<br /><br />Kling goes "both the state and market fail; use markets anyway" but there is exactly zero quantification of the extent of failure in either and Kling does not seem to care.davidhttp://thespam88@gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-55183499840403847902011-05-31T11:07:13.549-04:002011-05-31T11:07:13.549-04:00Disaggregate production functions fail miserably a...Disaggregate production functions fail miserably as a theory of production; why should aggregate production functions be any different?<br /><br />One can tell a story of the Great Depression, which focuses on the problems of agriculture, just as, I'm sure, one could tell an enlightening story of our times, which features the effects of the computer/communications revolution destroying capital and industries, as a rapid clip.<br /><br />People, who lived thru the Great Depression, certainly knew about the problems of agriculture. The programs set in motion by the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, and its later modifications, were among the most wildly successful programs of "industrial policy" in American history. The Secretary of Agriculture, a hybrid seed salesman, became Vice-President, and crop yields per acre -- for all major crops! -- began a precipitous climb.<br /><br />The problems of agriculture, in the 1920s and 1930s, were serious problems in dis-aggregate, problems of markets that did not clear neatly.<br /><br />Agriculture had to find ways to shed massive numbers of workers, while accumulating capital at a rapid rate, to embody an advancing technology. Productivity was rising very rapidly, volatility in farm product markets was brutal, and the rising power of food processors (the technology of large-scale, automated food processing was advancing rapidly) threatened the stability of farming. This was the micro-foundation of the Great Depression, just as much as the death of the gold standard.<br /><br />But, what do economists today know it? Or care to know?Bruce Wilderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09631065564839959376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-11395757862146446402011-05-31T10:05:59.683-04:002011-05-31T10:05:59.683-04:00Noah:
Here is a post I did awhile back where I pr...Noah:<br /><br />Here is a post I did awhile back where I present empirical evidence against the "recalculation view" of the Great Recession. It is more of macro critique of the view.<br /><br />http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/2011/01/further-evidence-against-recaluation.htmlDavid Beckworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04577612979801459194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-7803486692947624652011-05-31T01:21:39.186-04:002011-05-31T01:21:39.186-04:00Should have read:
"suspected that one of the...Should have read:<br /><br />"suspected that one of the most"Peter Kurzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00899143837225918526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-11444988150187535322011-05-31T01:19:34.016-04:002011-05-31T01:19:34.016-04:00I have long suspected that one the most important ...I have long suspected that one the most important appeals of the invisible hand is that it creates the illusion that moral choice is unnecessary and that self-interest is a noble pursuit. We are surrounded by the wreckage.Peter Kurzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00899143837225918526noreply@blogger.com