I loved this comment, which was in The Asset over the new year. It was written by James K Galbraith, who is professor of government at the University of Texas:
I think that is a very accurate and astute observation.
Hat tip for spotting this to Robin Stafford.
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‘Nuff said.
In the Middle Ages they would also recite spells or prayers.
Now the government and Bank of England recite neo-liberal mantras.
Not a lot of difference.
Mainstream economics consists of 4 humors. Many of the alternatives propose chainsaws. The rational thing to do is return to some kind of Keynesian body inside an mmt framework. Unless we want to see a hammer to rise and fall.
Excellent observation and bang on, which is what you’d expect from the son of another JK Galbraith (only this time John not James), and also an economist that spoke sense and truth to power. A couple of quotes:
‘The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. …’
And this one in particular:
‘The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.’
Richard, don’t forget that they used to apply leeches too.
Now I wonder if they could have found some of their own to use on the economy, no, wait!
@ Tom
Actually that comparison can be said to be unfair to leeches, given that, unlike the voodoo of bankers’ methods, leeches a) secrete a painkiller, which deadens pain and assists healing, and b) only take as much blood as they need, neither of which is the case with bankers’ methods. If only!
Leeches also secrete a peptide called Hirudin, which prevents blood coagulation. When studied with real science this peptide structure was mimicked and used to develop anti-coagulant drugs used in humans. Leeches are more useful than the majority of voodoo economists and bankers.
According to this https://www.qvh.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Medicinal-Leeches-0336.pdf leeches have 32 brains (‘did you know….?’ section towards the end) – this is the best factoid I’ve come across for ages. Make of it what you will!
Leeches are still used https://www.biopharm-leeches.com/clinical.html
And those who departed from the dominant orthodoxy would risk being burned for heresy. I’m just trying to think of the modern equivalent; death by TwitteX frenzy?
Richard do you see yourself “as the Alan Bates” of the world of economics?
No
I see myself as me.
As much as I agree with the post, looking at the consequences this morning of Storm Henk the whole situation stinks of UNDERINVESTMENT caused by STUPID & INCOMPETENT TORY POLITICIANS who gleefully came in 2010 and started to unthinkingly cut budgets everywhere.
So now the situation we are in is that once again we are being told that money is scarce (when it actually is not) and this is the ‘new normal’.
We should have been in investing not dis-investing in services and global warming, Covid and even when a ship gets stuck in the Suez canal has reified what disinvestment does.
And there is BREXIT to consider too.
So we are country that basically seems unable to cope with crises – large and small (think NHS A&E).
Make no mistake – this is THE Tory legacy of 2010 and this is what ‘Laboured’ should have been making mincemeat out of the Tories for.
Instead – according to Laboured’s Knight of the Realm leader yesterday, the party chose to go to war with itself and make itself more Tory instead of dealing with the crass stupidity of the Tory government. The charge that both parties are now basically the same is substantiated once and for all.
Now we are entering a perfect storm that is not just about the bad weather.
It is this: We have effectively allowed ourselves to be destroyed by the Tories and the claim now is that it’s all too expensive to put right apparently!!
So, where do we go from here? It seems to me as though the Tories are winning as they lose.
This is a desperately bad situation for the country as there effectively is no such thing as a political opposition anymore.
We are in the grips of a political mono-culture for sure – akin to a monarchy – not a democracy.
Thus Britain’s ‘democracy’ is a lie as Britain itself is a lie.