Hayes says: "The consensus economic model that he subscribes to—and that forms the worldview of the economists that he cites as definitive—is grounded on the assumption that people are rational." In terms of economics yes. But there is a difference when it comes to voting and politics. Views on economic policy are easy to have since the gain in learning more about policies doesn't really deliver any direct benefit. This is very different from personal economic decisions in the context of the marketplace where how we behave economically has a very direct impact and any knowledge directly helps....meaning that logic matters …
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ztnjv
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Whattheheck, Paragraphs 1-2: My point was there is a difference between a rational consumer and rational voter. The effects of personal choices are felt while the effects of political choices are felt less directly. For example, most (and I do mean nearly all) professional economists are in agreement that free trade is a net benefit for society...by far. Anf that impediments to free trade hurt our economy. This is based on sound economic principle and does NOT ignore that it will temporarily hurt some. Yet people, based on faulty merchantilist logic, have a problem with free trade and for the wrong …
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Agreed Kulthur. I confess I used to hold tentative leftist views on economics trying to find balance between this mindset "subjective fairness", the "need" for government to enact this "fairness" and desire to see business flourish so people could live better lives. Perhaps because I was trying to be objective to both sides, I missed the core problem and the answer was there all along: Government's help yields poor results in most cases. Much of what is reviled and fought against on an economic level has more to do with bad, inefficient policies that do not fix the problem and muddle …
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Whattheheck, (scorp, see below the line) Thanks for the repsonses. Rational consumer: The consumer IS rational. Let's not change what "rational" means. WHERE the product comes from, as far as I understand, is not a component of rational consumption...it is simply based on cost and benefit. Person X's desire for product A justifies the price as opposed to another choice based on his benefit. People simply don't discriminate on where the product comes from. PERHAPS, it could be proven that side by side, product A "MADE IN USA" next to product B "MADE IN CHINA" may (MAY) result in a preference …
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Matt W. Firstly, I said FREE trade. See the quote. Then you used fair trade. Fair trade is an obscure term with subjective meanings. I don't like it. secondly, you said: "At the very least government has to police trade activity so that, for instance, I can’t point a gun at you and demand your big screen TV without at least some fear of negative consequence. There also needs to be some form of contract enforcement, definition of private property (a concept created by and only meaningful within governed political systems), and dispute arbitration." That's not about trade policy. That's matters …
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"Yes this affects wealth by boosting stock prices and options. It does not necessarily affect purchasing power in a positive way or service and product quality. Wealth has increased for some while service has been downgraded — tech support for example." I disagree competley. These things do affect purchasing power and quality in positive and they are the main factors in wealth creation for all people....as opposed to government mechanisms. Artiificially high gains in stock markets are due more to monetary policy than anything. The wealthy money handlers suffer least from inflation. Tech support has been swinging back into the limelight. …
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WTH (continued) On what matters: No it doesn't matter when the selection is only foreign. There's usually a good reason for it and we are all better off. The only exception would be in somehow an un-free and unfair measure was taken to make foreign goods artifically more competitive than domestic. In this case, there is no free trade but rather rigged trade and special interest at work, No it doesn't matter if your job has left the country in terms of the topic at hand. That matters in a discussion about helping people adapt to changes and taking a better …
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Scorp, why so hostile? And what's with the fixation with "dimocrats"? I feel like I've written a small book's worth of posts on this thread. Have you read my posts? Do I sound like a Dem or Leftist to you? FYI, I came here via Caplan's blog, ECONLOG, which I read everyday. I'm more of a free market advocate than most Republicans and no, I'm not a Republican either, nor a Keynesian of of any kind. You spent a lot time asking rhetorical questions which you should be able to easily answer based on what I've written already. I guess one …
Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?
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scorp, --"Meanwhile, the cost of supporting this debt is minimal and the productive uses of the money borrowed is maximal if we can keep the hands of the Congress out of our cookie jar. "-- Interest on the debt chews up a sizable portion of the budget. And Congress's hand in far from out of the cookie jar. It looks like the actual cookie jar to me and just keeps growing. There's no excuse for this. Of course the reason is pure capitulation to get re-elected. Few are immune to criticism for all this....on these matters, people like Ron Paul stick …
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my perspective on this exchange: Keep in mind that I say this as neither a defense or attack on either Bush or Clinton. In this really the right way to discuss these things? I say no. I mean really, what does showing poverty rates between the two presidents' terms even mean? I don't think it means as much as the insinuations lead on. Same holds for other "stats" on wages or whatever. I think this style of debate that uses correllaries to somehow join the stats with a president's tenure is incomplete and dishonest because it's just a short cut way …
Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?
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