Truck Yourself, This is the NEW Politics Thread

by **TenuredVulture** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:57:32

What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

by **drsmooth** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:11:18

Werthless wrote:
drsmooth wrote:
VoxOrion wrote:
It may be just you, as the IPCC thought he was good enough to invite to review the report. I would think an economist would be an execellent person to consult in terms of data analysis and statistics. No?

You're perfectly welcome to invite an economist to do your bookkeeping or accounting. or your environmental science. I probably wouldn't.

I might give it more thought if we're talking about an econometrician. But probably not a lot.

I'd sooner go with Freeman Dyson

An econometrician is generally an empirical economist. Many people don't really know what an econometrician is, as it isn't really a part of a layperson's vocabulary. I'm sure the economist that was used was quite familiar with econometrics, so I wouldn't get hung up on how he was labeled.

as it turns out, it seems this work is well within McKitrick's purview, but I was disinclined to simply take your peevish word for it.

by **drsmooth** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:13:23

TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

See ref. to Galbraith, JK, in the recently updated economics thread

by **Werthless** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:15:33

TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

It's the people that drsmooth doesnt want looking at the data.

by **TenuredVulture** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:10:12

drsmooth wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

See ref. to Galbraith, JK, in the recently updated economics thread

I know at least one political theorist who thinks it makes sense to treat Galbraith as a political philosopher. Lots of people think Adam Smith should be treated that way.

But even political ideas need to be anchored in how the world actually is. Unless you like Rousseau or Nietzche or some other continental claptrap.

by **drsmooth** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:19:11

Werthless wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

It's the people that drsmooth doesnt want looking at the data.

I don't give a scrap whether they look at it, smell it, eat it or wipe their arse with it. I'm just not going to put a whole lot of credence in their opinions of it.

by **BigEd76** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:34:59

Not sure if it was mentioned yet but the Palins are lashing out at "Family Guy" because a Downs Syndrome character said her mom was the Governor of Alaska.

by **traderdave** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 13:12:52

BigEd76 wrote:Not sure if it was mentioned yet but the Palins are lashing out at "Family Guy" because a Downs Syndrome character said her mom was the Governor of Alaska.

Yeah, saw this in the am. All the Family Guy people have to do is call it "political satire" and they are in the clear. I can't stand Sarah Palin but, frankly, I'd be pissed too if I were her or a member of her family.

by **Werthless** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 13:33:01

drsmooth wrote:
Werthless wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

It's the people that drsmooth doesnt want looking at the data.

I don't give a scrap whether they look at it, smell it, eat it or wipe their arse with it. I'm just not going to put a whole lot of credence in their opinions of it.

Because they don't have a vested interest in how it turns out? Or because they're unable to evaluate a dataset if the units are degrees instead of dollar signs?

by **TheBrig** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 14:37:26

TenuredVulture wrote:What is non-empirical economics? Is that when economists just make crap up?

Yes, though we prefer to call it "Economic Theory".

by **drsmooth** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 14:44:27

Werthless wrote:Because they don't have a vested interest in how it turns out? Or because they're unable to evaluate a dataset if the units are degrees instead of dollar signs?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...................................yea, that's it.

that, or trout

by **jerseyhoya** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 00:56:41

The Worst Run Big City in the US

by **Swiggers** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 09:40:31

VoxOrion wrote:Particularly in politics, we are used to attacking sources when we don't like what we hear (or are skeptical). In science, it shouldn't matter, right?

Academics are just as petty as politicians.

by **Trent Steele** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:12:32

jerseyhoya wrote:The Worst Run Big City in the US

And yet, despite that, it's easily the greatest city in the country.

I've never lived there, but I've probably spent somewhere between 6 months to a year of my life there over the past 15 years. There's nowhere I'd rather live than in the area between Marin County and Monterey/Carmel.

by **TenuredVulture** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:55:02

Wealth makes it easy to run a city poorly and not be a totally fucked up place. But as NJ and California show, it can't go on forever.

by **gpicaro** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:25:27

traderdave wrote:
BigEd76 wrote:Not sure if it was mentioned yet but the Palins are lashing out at "Family Guy" because a Downs Syndrome character said her mom was the Governor of Alaska.

Yeah, saw this in the am. All the Family Guy people have to do is call it "political satire" and they are in the clear. I can't stand Sarah Palin but, frankly, I'd be pissed too if I were her or a member of her family.

CNN:

The actress who lent her voice to a character with Down syndrome on a recent episode of Fox's "Family Guy" is defending the portrayal against attacks from Sarah Palin.

Andrea Fay Friedman, the actress who herself has Down syndrome, said the scene was merely meant to be sarcastic.

"I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor," she said in an e-mail to the New York Times. "I thought the line 'I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska' was very funny. I think the word is 'sarcasm.' In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life."

by **VoxOrion** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 13:05:07

Sestak offered a job to quit running against Specter

Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) said yesterday that the White House offered him a federal job in an effort to dissuade him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's Democratic primary.

A White House spokesman this morning strongly denied Sestak had been offered yesterday.

by **traderdave** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 13:10:45

Well that certainly shows things in a different light but I still do not see the apparently obvious humor in that line. What am I missing? I am not a "Family Guy" guy so I probably just don't get it. Anyway....

by **traderdave** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 13:12:13

VoxOrion wrote:Sestak offered a job to quit running against Specter

Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) said yesterday that the White House offered him a federal job in an effort to dissuade him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's Democratic primary.

A White House spokesman this morning strongly denied Sestak had been offered yesterday.

Sestak blew it when he asked for tomorrow too.

Take that Family Guy writers!

by **jerseyhoya** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 13:15:42

jerseyhoya wrote:So when Frank Lautenberg dies and costs the Dems their Senate majority, I think Rob Andrews' press release should simply be:

Hey Guys

Told you so.

Congressman Rob Andrews

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey’s 86-year-old senior senator, was diagnosed with treatable stomach cancer in the last 24 hours and will begin chemotherapy today.

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