Politics: June 2008 Archives
Wow. He's getting so stupid that he's endanger of defying a different law of economics, namely that People Aren't THAT Stupid.
Witness, from Bloomberg, via hat tip to Greg Mankiw:
OK, first. If you say shit like "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" all the time, then maybe you should either a) shut the hell up about economics or b) check your facts really hard before you go spouting bullshit about the subject.
Second, and this is a little related to the first point about being able to check your facts if you don't STFU, As it happens, John's statement is simply false. There are several very prominent economists that did indeed predict the housing crisis we're in, among them Dean Baker, who is, understandably, endlessly frustrated by all the idiots in the press and politics who keep saying that no one could have seen this coming, and Paul Krugman, whose predictions were not as dire as Dean's but definitely forbode some bad times for homeowners. Furthermore, there were a ton of economists, hell, there were a ton of journalists, who saw the dot-com meltdown coming. I mean, they didn't know exactly when, but they sure as hell knew that companies with negative net income were not worth $5 billion valuations.
And last, as Greg points out, let's be clear, John, that there is no magical other group of people who predicted all these things perfectly. But nice straw man attempt.
Oh, yeah, and WTF at the Bloomberg article NOT POINTING ANY OF THIS OUT AS BULLSHIT. It ends with the above quote as if this were some nugget of maverick wisdom. Seriously, when are the press going to do their jobs and ask the man some hard questions. On second thought, how about some questions that any competent college grad could answer?
Witness, from Bloomberg, via hat tip to Greg Mankiw:
[Senator McCain] has shown increasing disdain for any economist who questions his policy prescriptions. Earlier this month, he lashed out at critics of his proposal for a summer gas-tax holiday.Where to start. So much stupidity. Make him stop.
"You know the economists?'' McCain said June 12 at Federal Hall, near the New York Stock Exchange. "They're the same ones that didn't predict this housing crisis we're in. They're the same ones that didn't predict the dot-com meltdown. They're the same ones that didn't predict the inflation that's staring us in the face today.''
OK, first. If you say shit like "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" all the time, then maybe you should either a) shut the hell up about economics or b) check your facts really hard before you go spouting bullshit about the subject.
Second, and this is a little related to the first point about being able to check your facts if you don't STFU, As it happens, John's statement is simply false. There are several very prominent economists that did indeed predict the housing crisis we're in, among them Dean Baker, who is, understandably, endlessly frustrated by all the idiots in the press and politics who keep saying that no one could have seen this coming, and Paul Krugman, whose predictions were not as dire as Dean's but definitely forbode some bad times for homeowners. Furthermore, there were a ton of economists, hell, there were a ton of journalists, who saw the dot-com meltdown coming. I mean, they didn't know exactly when, but they sure as hell knew that companies with negative net income were not worth $5 billion valuations.
And last, as Greg points out, let's be clear, John, that there is no magical other group of people who predicted all these things perfectly. But nice straw man attempt.
Oh, yeah, and WTF at the Bloomberg article NOT POINTING ANY OF THIS OUT AS BULLSHIT. It ends with the above quote as if this were some nugget of maverick wisdom. Seriously, when are the press going to do their jobs and ask the man some hard questions. On second thought, how about some questions that any competent college grad could answer?
I imagine good ol' John will become a recurring character in the people are stupid series, because, wow is that man dumb.
Recently John decided to demonstrates how much he cares about the environment by offering a $300 million dollar prize for anyone that invents a better car battery.
Newsflash, idiot: anyone that invents a better car battery is set him/herself up for a shitload more than $300 million for it.
As Tom Lee points out, via hat tip to Ezra Klein, it's not as if car companies are sitting around yelling at their R&D departments to stop working on battery improvements. Seriously, John, I know you are older than polyester, but I know a lot of smart old guys, so I'm going to have to come to the conclusion that you aren't ignorant of economics 101 simply because you went to college before Economics existed, but rather because you are just plain old stupid.
You want to help vs. global warming? Offer a billion dollar prize to somebody who can figure out how to reverse the damage done to the ozone layer. Because last time I checked, there is no huge market for that particular development, which means that anyone smart enough to do it isn't going to "waste their time" on that particular project.
By the way, it completely stuns me that the mainstream press let's John McCain get away with saying really, really genuinely stupid things all the time, particularly on things like economics, a subject in which he has already admitted to having no expertise whatsoever, without just once (one ****ing time!) calling him out for it. I mean, Hillary got more than her share of shit for supporting the gas tax holiday (which was a very stupid idea), but John, who came up with it in the first place, didn't have to face one single reporter asking him "Can you name any economists who support this proposal?". Not one journalist. Seriously?
Recently John decided to demonstrates how much he cares about the environment by offering a $300 million dollar prize for anyone that invents a better car battery.
Newsflash, idiot: anyone that invents a better car battery is set him/herself up for a shitload more than $300 million for it.
As Tom Lee points out, via hat tip to Ezra Klein, it's not as if car companies are sitting around yelling at their R&D departments to stop working on battery improvements. Seriously, John, I know you are older than polyester, but I know a lot of smart old guys, so I'm going to have to come to the conclusion that you aren't ignorant of economics 101 simply because you went to college before Economics existed, but rather because you are just plain old stupid.
You want to help vs. global warming? Offer a billion dollar prize to somebody who can figure out how to reverse the damage done to the ozone layer. Because last time I checked, there is no huge market for that particular development, which means that anyone smart enough to do it isn't going to "waste their time" on that particular project.
By the way, it completely stuns me that the mainstream press let's John McCain get away with saying really, really genuinely stupid things all the time, particularly on things like economics, a subject in which he has already admitted to having no expertise whatsoever, without just once (one ****ing time!) calling him out for it. I mean, Hillary got more than her share of shit for supporting the gas tax holiday (which was a very stupid idea), but John, who came up with it in the first place, didn't have to face one single reporter asking him "Can you name any economists who support this proposal?". Not one journalist. Seriously?
