Re: What’s the deal with conservatives, economists, and the minimum wage?
On Jan 19, 2007, at 5:56 PM, Ted Winslow wrote:
This understanding of capitalist motivation as irrational underpins
his analysis of behaviour in financial markets, in particular it
underpins his analysis of the “conventional” basis of expectations
in those markets, the most important “convention” being the one
pointed to by Doug. Keynes claims that:“The vast majority of those who are concerned with the buying and
selling of securities know almost nothing whatever about what they
are doing. They do not possess even the rudiments of what is
required for a valid judgment, and are the prey of hopes and fears
easily aroused by transient events and as easily dispelled. This is
one of the odd characteristics of the capitalist system under which
we live, which, when we are dealing with the real world, is not to
be overlooked.” (vol. VI, p. 323)
And the odd thing about this is that anyone who follows the financial
markets closely knows that this is mostly true. Only hack economists
and Alan Greenspan (sorry, redundant) would argue otherwise.
Doug