Economics Schmekonomics
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Date: 26 March, 2008 - 10:05

Normal disclaimers apply: I try not to make this a political space. I'm not an economist, but I've studied it both in academia and in real life.

Fundamentally, I believe that a basic understanding of it is required to have any significant success... well, for the common man. If you happen to be one of the elite - or otherwise be unconnected with real life - it's not quite as necessary. As demonstrated here by Senator Clinton about Alan Greenspan

"Not only that, but the Fed didn't act while he was there. But he has a calming influence still to this day on Wall Street -- don't ask me why because I never understand what he's saying -- but nevertheless people respond to that Delphic oracle approach. I think it would be wise to include him. And recently he's come out and vert smartly so [sic] that we have to deal with housing and maybe we need to have some kind of buyout mechanism for mortgages. So he's moved on his understanding and depth of the problem -- but you know you could pick three others.

Hat Tip: Ben Smith of the Politico

Gulp.

Well, no worries... it's not like she's in charge of anything.

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You're entitled to dislike

You're entitled to dislike which ever candidates you want, but you should at least find a better reason. Senator Clinton wasn't saying "math is hard", but was stating was profession economists also say: the fed chairman is not supposed to say anything that will cause bond buyers to rush out and start buying or selling bonds. Bernake, Greenspan's successor, has explicitly said that he plans on being transparent in the hopes that clear announcements are less likely to trigger waves of buying or selling bonds. If the fed chairman says the sky is falling or if he says he *plans* to raise/cut rates, the market will react strongly-- just the sort of instability the fed doesn't want to create. See, bond traders can make millions if they can guess what the fed will do and speculation like that leads to volatility in the bond market. My credential is a dusty master's in economics.

"Math is Hard"

Matthew,

My criticism is not based on the "math is hard" theme...  I don't believe the "women can't do math" stereotype in the slightest and I happen to be a bit annoyed that you seemed to believe that I do.

Regardless, she didn't say that "I don't understand some of the complex principles of these announcements" or "I don't understand some of the implications of what happens when he says stuff".  Those are big concepts with lots of moving parts that I don't expect everyone to be a master in.  No, her quote was "don't ask me why because I never understand what he's saying".

What would you do if a brain surgeon walked in and said "I don't know about all this blood stuff, let's start!"

Incompetence is incompetence. 

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