(11-05-2013, 11:02 AM)Jester Wrote:(11-05-2013, 08:03 AM)eppie Wrote: I would like to see more work done on questions like:
-how can we let pay people the real cost of objects and services?
-why is a cyclic economy so bad and can we do something about it?*
(I am not an economist and don't read much literature so it might be that some nice work has been done on this)
Practically the entire discipline is work on those two questions. The first is the fundamental question of Microeconomics, and the second, the fundamental question of Macro.
-Jester
OK, great, so why is it we still don't include costs of destroying our planet and valuable resources such as biodiversity in the price of things? Is it that economists don't agree on this or do they find other things more important? I mean market economy is only possible when we wouldn't influence the place we live...for continuous growth you need a more or less infinite source of energy and raw materials. Wind and solar energy would fit in this picture, and our economy will be based on that in time.....but why is that process going so slow, I mean if economists tell us we should?
(11-05-2013, 06:52 PM)LemmingofGlory Wrote: To say the the goal of economics is to serve the wealthy is like saying the goal of science is to prove that no gods exist. The goal of economics is to create models of whatever economy you may be interested in describing. (Some economists use their models to study EVEonline.) How it is used may be influenced by ideology, but it is foolish to confuse a tool with the one who uses it. Even if many people use economics in a way that assumes the conclusion they seek, I do not believe the discipline is constructed around that. To me, that is like saying statistics is a corrupt discipline because some people distort studies and use handpicked samples.
-Lem
Economics are influenced by the reaction of people to certain facts and changes. Those reactions are influenced by politics, media, advertisements etc. Which themselves are again influenced by economics.
An economist who says the crisis is over will create a positive response by the people which actually will help a crisis to finish faster. Physics doesn't work like that.
(11-06-2013, 12:21 AM)Occhidiangela Wrote: That is you, eppie. To about 80% of the population of the planet, you are Western Rich. This Bud's for you, and this economy is for you. Cheers.
Well don't understand me wrong, I am happy with the place I was born and the wealth that came with that, compared to most other people but that doesn't mean I think we should base our policy on that.