[drn-discuss] UKPO consultations

[Ian Brown]

>>> By concentrating on economics you are missing that this is  essentially
>>> a political matter.
>>>
>>
>> nope.
>>
> 
> Yep. What has economics ever managed to forecast successfully? They
> constantly miss the ups and downs of the economy, miss all the crashes
> and bubbles and are not able to rule out certain economic events.. eg.
> Stagflation took 'em by surprise. 

ok, there's a productive way forward -- let's just dismiss the entire
discipline of economics as having anything to contribute here. i can see
that would encourage politicians to take us seriously.

>> do you write provocatively with the intent to provoke, or out of habit?
> 
> 
> I write to critique. 

unfortunate that you often seem to provoke as well.

>>
>>> People are losing jobs, and manufacturing continues its decline.
>>>
>>> What is to be done?
>>>
>>
>> develop policies that have the slightest hope of increasing
>> investment/jobs/etc, even before wider considerations of social welfare
>> are taken into account.
>>
> 
> Yes but those policies require political decision to be taken. The
> question of social welfare is not, nor could it be, the domain of economics.

there are certainly economic tools that can help in trying to measure it.

> To think that you can make economic decision divorced from politics is
> neo-liberal and simplistic. 

and a straw man which nobody here had suggested.