The letter says: “We know that high inequality undermines all our social and environmental goals. It corrodes our politics, destroys trust, hamstrings our collective economic prosperity and weakens multilateralism. We also know that without a sharp reduction in inequality, the twin goals of ending poverty and preventing climate breakdown will be in clear conflict.”

  • @[email protected]
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    -11 year ago

    Correct, you don’t, because those are garbage disciplines based on nothing whereas economics is decidedly not. Economics is the study of constrained choice, using rigorous math to model these scenarios and applied statistics to test the models. Any 1st or 2nd year course you take in economics isn’t revealing truisms about the world - they are introducing concepts and highly simplified, abstracted models so that when you get into upper year courses and you start using extremely heavy math to make more realistic models that are serious attempts to explain actual human behavior, you’re not completely lost.

    You take at face-value that certain subsets of economists argue in favor of bank bailouts but against student loan relief is proof that they’re evil, or garbage, or bought and paid for, without even understanding the arguments. The bank bailouts were loans which the banks paid back - would you be fine with the government giving out more loans to pay off existing student loans?

    • @afraid_of_zombies
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      11 year ago

      based on nothing whereas economics is decidedly not.

      Incorrect. It is garbage based on whatever power structure says is true. Basically religion.

      You take at face-value that certain subsets of economists argue in favor of bank bailouts but against student loan relief is proof that they’re evil, or garbage, or bought and paid for, without even understanding the arguments

      How did you determine what I know and don’t know? Please show me your methodology of mindreading. Hey everyone watch as this one ignores this question

      The bank bailouts were loans which the banks paid back

      Gotcha. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. The loan portion was a fraction of the entire bailout package. There was also the shutdown of their competition via stresstesting and the excessive reserve program which dwarfed the loan portion. Plus there is the get out of jail free card the government issued to them. I am going to assume you knew about all three and like your economists friends were hoping that I didn’t. A lie by omission. Garbage rhetorical tricks they teach in economic classes these days.

      If I paid off a cop to not arrest you, gave you a free apartment building to live in, murdered your rivals, and then you paid me back ten bucks you lent me before that would pretty much describe what happened.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_reserves

      would you be fine with the government giving out more loans to pay off existing student loans?

      I don’t know, go ask the bank that pays you to tell you what to think to do.