tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post6946285446675710168..comments2024-02-15T03:13:49.505-08:00Comments on Economic Policy Advice for Barack Obama: Rant against liberals who rant that Obama is a centrist...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-76301290964869381982010-08-26T09:51:56.151-07:002010-08-26T09:51:56.151-07:00lol, great comments...
Still, though, I once TA&#...lol, great comments...<br /><br />Still, though, I once TA'd for an anthropology course, which was great, but the other TAs were History or Anthro Ph.D.'s, very liberal, and their attitude was that they wouldn't want to touch Economics w/ a 10 foot pole. They were too "pure" to study something so corporatist. <br /><br />But, given that it affects the lives of millions of people, and that Presidents seem to be surrounded by Economists, I couldn't really quite see where they are coming from...<br /><br />I'm not saying liberals don't get screwed over on publishing and tenure decisions (hence the anonymity of this blog and Krugman & Stiglitz's late career move to the left), b/c I'm sure I'll encounter plenty of that, but I'm saying that a big part of this is self-selection out of these key fields by liberals for what amount to cultural reasons. <br /><br />Also, the good news is that I would suspect that the current generation of Ph.D. students are further to the left than was the case a generation or two ago...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-23415502257766022812010-08-25T18:14:25.698-07:002010-08-25T18:14:25.698-07:00Ummm...We have too many Dems who are the Spawn of ...Ummm...We have too many Dems who are the Spawn of the Vampire squid.<br /><br />Hell, we would have too many if it were just Bob Rubin.Matthew Saroffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09182726521277446600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-55243257987584038252010-08-25T15:47:50.213-07:002010-08-25T15:47:50.213-07:00"Just remember, Paul Krugman got his first pu..."Just remember, Paul Krugman got his first public attention by winning the John Bates Clark prize as this up and coming conservative."<br /><br />The JBC is not given for being conservative.ssendamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-3247176010721428092010-08-25T14:02:29.210-07:002010-08-25T14:02:29.210-07:00I must respectfully disagree that the "soluti...I must respectfully disagree that the "solution" is "liberal" economists with young academic tenure or a Goldman Sachs VP on their CV. Quite honestly, I don't think such an outcome is possible.<br /><br />There is a REASON there are no liberals with those sorts of creds. I mean, can you even imagine an Institutionalist getting tenure at Harvard? I once asked Lester Thurow, who was giving a lecture in Northfield MN at Carleton College's ongoing Veblen-Clark lecture series, whether he could name a school that would grant a Ph.D. in economics to Thorstein Veblen is he were to come back to life with the same belief set he expressed in his writings.<br /><br />Thurow wrinkled that magnificent brow of his and said, "None that I know of."<br /><br />Think about that. Thorstein Veblen was easily one of the great geniuses to walk planet earth. His "Theory of the Leisure Class" has been in continuous publication since 1899. He was Albert Einstein's (yeah, THAT Albert Einstein) favorite social scientist (and believed him to be a REAL scientist). etc. etc. etc.<br /><br />And Lester fricken Thurow could NOT think of a school that would give TBV a freaking Ph.D. in economics! There is a REASON the economics profession has become a disgrace to the human race--the profession was taken over by religious nuts. I am sorry, there is no other way to describe someone like Larry Summers.<br /><br />Just remember, Paul Krugman got his first public attention by winning the John Bates Clark prize as this up and coming conservative. When I was in school, we didn't even talk to right wing nuts like him. And HE is now considered a "lefty."<br /><br />And you will know that the economics profession has righted its ship when guys like you start winning the prizes and getting tenure at 27 or whatever. I am not sure the Goldman Sachs v.p. is desirable unless we see them enact a corporate rule that executive bonuses can be no larger than their investments in green technologies. Right now, the place is like the epicenter of pure evil. I cannot imagine working their without losing one's soul--I mean, you cannot point to any exceptions, can you?<br /><br />Good luck man--I am not sure you understand what you are up against but I certainly admire the bravery of youth. If you don't want to change the world at 25, you probably aren't going to do it. And the world certainly needs a bunch of changing!Jonathan Larsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05217670446743983955noreply@blogger.com