• Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward
    11 replies, posted
[URL="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/business/academics-who-defend-wall-st-reap-reward.html?from=homepage"]http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/business/academics-who-defend-wall-st-reap-reward.html?from=homepage[/URL] [IMG]http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/28/business/Academics3/Academics3-articleLarge.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Do financial speculators and commodity index funds drive up prices of oil and other essentials, ultimately costing consumers? Since 2006, Mr. Pirrong has written a flurry of influential letters to federal agencies arguing that the answer to that question is an emphatic no. He has testified before Congress to that effect, hosted seminars with traders and government regulators, and given countless interviews for financial publications absolving Wall Street speculation of any appreciable role in the price spikes. Harvesting corn, which has surged in cost, near Peotone, Ill. NATHAN WEBER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES What Mr. Pirrong has routinely left out of most of his public pronouncements in favor of speculation is that he has reaped financial benefits from speculators and some of the largest players in the commodities business, The New York Times has found.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it's pretty well known at this point that the entire "school" of economics has been taken over by the Wall Street belief system. It's not a science, it's just a loose collection of Randian beliefs to justify unchecked greed and sociopathic disregard for the consequences of their actions. The financial sector has a revolving door for academia just as it does for politics.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;43334635]Yeah, it's pretty well known at this point that the entire "school" of economics has been taken over by the Wall Street belief system. It's not a science, it's just a loose collection of Randian beliefs to justify unchecked greed and sociopathic disregard for the consequences of their actions. The financial sector has a revolving door for academia just as it does for politics.[/QUOTE] It is a verifiable fact that most economists lean left.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;43334697]It is a verifiable fact that most economists lean left.[/QUOTE] because leaning [i]right[/i] would be the [b]right[/b] thing to do.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;43334697]It is a verifiable fact that most economists lean left.[/QUOTE] But they teach beliefs that are fundamentally right-wing. Finance professors aren't out there telling students that stock market madness is a detriment to the public good, they're telling students that making money for yourself at any cost is a virtue. The whole system of thought comes from the idea that the free market is some god-given ideal that we all have a duty to adhere to, not that it's an economic system just like anything else that should be judged on how well it serves society.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;43335143]But they teach beliefs that are fundamentally right-wing. Finance professors aren't out there telling students that stock market madness is a detriment to the public good, they're telling students that making money for yourself at any cost is a virtue. The whole system of thought comes from the idea that the free market is some god-given ideal that we all have a duty to adhere to, not that it's an economic system just like anything else that should be judged on how well it serves society.[/QUOTE] So, to you, the idea that all economists are crypto-rightwingers is more believable than the idea, they just might be exactly what they claim they are? Also, anyone who looks at the environment of regulations and intervention in the economy and concludes that the US is a libertarian nightmare is simply delusional.
Except most don't. Have you actually taken an economics class because you're stereotyping and generalizing because you hate economists. That's to Salesman.
[QUOTE=Swilly;43335413]Except most don't. Have you actually taken an economics class because you're stereotyping and generalizing because you hate economists.[/QUOTE] I was referring to him, and people who think Ron Paul's fingerprints are all over the recent crises. Economists are alright.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;43335451]I was referring to him, and people who think Ron Paul's fingerprints are all over the recent crises. Economists are alright.[/QUOTE] I meant Salesman who just seems to regurgitate rhetorical thoughts.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;43335143]But they teach beliefs that are fundamentally right-wing. Finance professors aren't out there telling students that stock market madness is a detriment to the public good, they're telling students that making money for yourself at any cost is a virtue.[/quote] I don't know if I'd be as quick as to label anything that involves making money as inherently right-wing. They're finance professors because they understand and are capable of applying and teaching the principles that underlie such economic transactions, and that's exactly why those students are there, it's an economic related class, not sociology or what have you. I wouldn't want a programming class that primarily focuses on all of the jobs that may be lost because I found a way to program a computer to do the same thing and save time and money. [quote]The whole system of thought comes from the idea that the free market is some god-given ideal that we all have a duty to adhere to, not that it's an economic system just like anything else that should be judged on how well it serves society.[/QUOTE] Have you actually ever taken a single class related to this subject, or did you just see Wall Street one time and take absolutely everything from that? As Euxodia was saying, there is a large amount of present economists that tend to gravitate toward the left wing, Keynesians is getting pretty popular again. It has nothing to do with the fact that it's some 'God-given ideal,' it's just that it helps to make money, and such selfishness is more a problem derived from our capitalistic nature in general.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;43335143]But they teach beliefs that are fundamentally right-wing. Finance professors aren't out there telling students that stock market madness is a detriment to the public good, they're telling students that making money for yourself at any cost is a virtue. The whole system of thought comes from the idea that the free market is some god-given ideal that we all have a duty to adhere to, not that it's an economic system just like anything else that should be judged on how well it serves society.[/QUOTE] The only economics teachers I have ever had (only two to be fair) were quite liberal regarding social issues, but they both revered fundamental capitalism. Even though I had a rough time in econ 212, I thought it was quite interesting and that economics is something I would have liked to major in. Sometimes I wish humans lived longer just so I could study and understand more...
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;43334697]It is a verifiable fact that most economists lean left.[/QUOTE] But politicians and prominent capitalists rather make decisions first based on ideology and then seek out (or sometimes forge) studies to support their policy. I haven't seen this guys studies but the money trail leading right to people with interests regarding the matter is a big alarm bell and his work should atleast be viewed critically. edit: i think speculation is rather counterproductive though. money should be rather going into "real" investment that will have long term value instead of a quick interest grab.
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