[drn-discuss] UKPO consultations

Fri Sep 30 11:55:08 CDT 2005

>
> 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.
>

This is a straw man that nobody had suggested.

>>
>>
>> I write to critique.
>>
>
> unfortunate that you often seem to provoke as well.
>

Well, that can be a side effect.

>>>
>>>
>>
>> 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.
>

Measuring it is one thing we could argue about (and methodologically  
very problematic in itself - anyway considering that economics is  
less about empirical measurement and more about building economic  
models this isn't the point).

>> 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.

You suggested that we:

>> develop policies that have the slightest hope of increasing
>> investment/jobs/etc, even before wider considerations of social  
>> welfare
>> are taken into account
>>

How exactly can you separate these two fields of enquiry?

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