tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post7502645066108582855..comments2023-06-18T01:25:08.748-07:00Comments on Information Transfer Economics: Macro criticism, but not that kind Jason Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-26510629143277833052018-05-12T10:21:11.813-07:002018-05-12T10:21:11.813-07:00Actually it's a missing "of"!Actually it's a missing "of"!Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-87480951229786565182018-05-12T09:58:21.061-07:002018-05-12T09:58:21.061-07:00Any response at all would raise the profile, but p...Any response at all would raise the profile, but people tend read & share criticism more (as well as criticism of criticism). Case in point: as of now, you have 7 comments on this blog post. Maybe this level of engagement will help my "just-so" story of a 1980s recession already underway before Volcker is even nominated?Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-7565146288712802102018-05-12T05:17:31.470-07:002018-05-12T05:17:31.470-07:00"I thought I'd try my hand at writing at ..."I thought I'd try my hand at writing at one that might pass muster."<br /><br />One too many "at"s.Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-49680566573424647412018-05-12T04:42:23.175-07:002018-05-12T04:42:23.175-07:00"However I have to admit as a scientist that ..."However I have to admit as a scientist that if you can only identify a bubble after it has popped it is at least plausible that the concept might not be useful."<br /><br />I don't fully understand your point here. Isn't it true that a geologist can only identify an earthquake after it happens? That doesn't make it any more plausible that the concept of an earthquake is useless does it?<br /><br />But in my analogy the earthquake would be more like the recession. The "bubble" would be some hypothesized earthquake precursor that can only be identified after the earthquake by sifting through the old data to identify it (but can never be identified beforehand). Is that the sense in which you're questioning the usefulness of the bubble concept here? In my analogy the hypothesized precursor (which never shows up until a story is constructed later) could very well be a "just-so" story for each particular earthquake. E.g. "Greg's dog barked before earthquake #1, and Susan's parrot squawked before earthquake #2. So an animal always makes a noise prior, we just have to find out which one it was!" Lol.<br /><br />An enjoyable read Jason. Thanks.Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-65177784214674136862018-05-12T04:28:41.682-07:002018-05-12T04:28:41.682-07:00"I don't know; maybe they're just hap..."I don't know; maybe they're just happy to write out lots of LaTeX symbols like in physics papers ... physics envy? Well, that's the best answer I've heard because otherwise it doesn't make sense!" ... another line that made me laugh.<br /><br />"Macro has no natural immunity to just-so stories because it doesn't have a robust internal criticism of them; it has to stick to debunking the caricature."<br /><br />By "debunking the caricature" here you mean that macro practitioners stick to debunking criticisms of macro based on those criticisms being aimed at a caricature of macro, rather than what macro actually is currently like, true?<br /><br />"These smack-downs increase the profile of the critique, and allow the critic's just-so story to invade the minds of many more readers."<br /><br />I don't follow this. How do these smack-downs (responses to critiques) increase the profile of the critique? Wouldn't any response increase the profile of the critique? Maybe that's precisely what you meant: the fact that there's any response at all increases it's profile. And the "just-so" story you're referring to in this bit is the "just-so" story being presented in the critique (e.g. the "missing ingredients" in a model, that the critic prefers), true?<br /><br /><br />Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-29148027528521179952018-05-12T04:12:14.299-07:002018-05-12T04:12:14.299-07:00"The physics envy charge is leveled at exactl..."The physics envy charge is leveled at exactly this kind of unnecessary complexity that doesn't result better, more empirically accurate models."<br /><br />I think you need an "in" between "result" and "better."Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-9500196386631359232018-05-12T04:03:45.114-07:002018-05-12T04:03:45.114-07:00"There are even people not named Romer that h..."There are even people not named Romer that have written papers [pdf] about it." Good line! =)<br /><br />But here:<br /><br />"I also believe that it is a lack of an immune response of internal criticism to this kind of model-building lets a lot of "schools of thought" (usually just different sets of story elements) proliferate."<br /><br />I think you need a "that" just before "lets."Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-58371641799220009092018-05-12T03:52:04.851-07:002018-05-12T03:52:04.851-07:00"This failure points to the failure what Noah..."This failure points to the failure what Noah Smith called big unchallenged assumptions."<br /><br />I think you meant "that" instead of "what."Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-6537894375227517632018-05-12T03:50:05.233-07:002018-05-12T03:50:05.233-07:00"It's as if the proverbial monkeys were a..."It's as if the proverbial monkeys were able to type up Hamlet while the theorists were replacing the ribbon."<br /><br />Great line!Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.com