Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
You've probably heard about the Wall Street Journal's interview with economist Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini, the one in which he declared that "Marx was right," and that we should have had a bigger stimulus?
The interview was serious, and he's a serious economist--he's not right, but at least he's making a serious point. But of course the phrase "Marx was right" is all anyone's taking away.
Well, this cracked me up. I follow him on Twitter. Someone on Twitter asks him, "Why don't you explain how the bottom half of people in the US don't even pay ANY income tax?" His answer? "Because got barely income to eat."
Dr. Roubino, you've left that television studio to have a look at America, right? The bottom half of America is quite notable for the size of its bottom half. So is the top half, for that matter. That's not a sign of being unable to afford to eat. Starving people don't suffer from "obesity epidemics."
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May '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
What good is his seriousness if he's wrong?
Oct '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Those acedemics in economic theory do not seem to get out much do they ?Dealing with reality with all its conundrums is simply too large a challenge...
Jun '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
In most parts of America, if you want to starve to death, you practically have to hide. Get too skinny, and people--people you don't even know--start bringing food over. Unless you're a bona fide supermodel, they won't leave you alone. Not my experience, but I've seen it happen to people who are naturally skinny. That's America.
Mar '11
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Dinesh D'Souza's best line ever was a quote from an Indian friend who had tried despite many setbacks to come to the US; when D'Souza asked why he was so set on immigrating, the friend said, "I want to live in a country where the poor people are fat."
May '11
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Serious thinkers force us to reconsider our own evidence and arguments. Confronting serious arguments other than your own strengthen your arguments whether you end up revising your argument or not.
May '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
I've heard nearly everything there is to hear about how the stimulus was insufficient and how Marx has been right all along about capitalism. I doubt, after conclusive refutations of Marxism and Keynesianism have been available for so long, that Roubini qualifies as a serious economist. He should go back to being a playboy.
Dec '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Michael Labeit
What good is his seriousness if he's wrong? · Aug 15 at 9:49pm
I like sincerity and honesty in those I oppose. It's hard to persuade or convince when your adversary is perpetually dishonest.
May '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
AmishDude
Michael Labeit
What good is his seriousness if he's wrong? · Aug 15 at 9:49pm
I like sincerity and honesty in those I oppose. It's hard to persuade or convince when your adversary is perpetually dishonest. · Aug 15 at 10:44pm
If this was a debate over relatively new propositions, then I'd agree. But I don't think anyone pushing Marx can claim to be all that serious.
May '11
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Michael Labeit
I've heard nearly everything there is to hear about how the stimulus was insufficient and how Marx has been right all along about capitalism. I doubt, after conclusive refutations of Marxism and Keynesianism have been available for so long, that Roubini qualifies as a serious economist. He should go back to being a playboy. · Aug 15 at 10:40pm
The argument that Roubini is not serious is entirely different from the question of his utility if we grant that he is serious.
Nov '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Roubini needs to watch Bill Whittle's recent Afterburner segment, Rich Man, Poor Man.
Sorry to anyone who finds a paywall at that link. Like Ricochet, PJTV membership is pretty inexpensive. Lotta chaff there, but the good stuff is really worthwhile. You could probably view this free if you search the title and "whittle" on YouTube.
Whittle is not an economist, but at some level, and on some issues, it's more important to have common sense than a Nobel Prize.
I did have a bit of difficulty deriving the title of your post from its comments, Claire. I suppose it's based on the quip at the end. As one who'se travelled a bit, I think this notion that you've got to "be there" to properly judge a place is a bit problematic. You could walk down a street of Iran anywhere a visitor is likely to go and, despite the dress code you might convince yourself you're in a European democracy. Who would guess that this is the largest state sponsor of international terrorism, brutally oppressive at home, etc?
Some forests can't be seen by examining trees; indeed they can be obscured by them.
May '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
I should have put "seriousness" in my first comment in quotation marks. Serious or not, his argument is painfully played out. There's nothing about it that makes me question my own economic convictions.
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
R. Craigen:
I did have a bit of difficulty deriving the title of your post from its comments, Claire. I suppose it's based on the quip at the end. As one who'se travelled a bit, I think this notion that you've got to "be there" to properly judge a place is a bit problematic. You could walk down a street of Iran anywhere a visitor is likely to go and, despite the dress code you might convince yourself you're in a European democracy.
I agree--it was a lighthearted headline. But seriously, no one could walk down any street in America and convince himself that a widespread inability to afford food was a problem. However, someone who has never been there could readily believe that.
Headlines in Turkish press today: "Karl Marx was right!"
Mar '11
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Well, this explains why Mr Obama is out and about the USA in his bus to explain to the peasants why Marxism works. Some of the peasants are revolting.
Apparently he is offended when people call him a socialist... I'm not sure if he is in the same country as the rest of us.
Dec '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
"Some of the peasants are revolting."
Well, I've been told that I'm revolting.
Oct '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Looking on the bright side, now would be the perfect time for Turkey to fully embrace Marxism, because it would discredit both Marxism and Islamism as political solutions.
May '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Roubini is starting from a theory to reach a conclusion. He believes that without a European Social Democracy, the poor become a Dickensian underclass of urchins and possibly ragamuffins. Therefore, Americans are too poor to buy food because the socialist model predicts they will be.
This is not unlike a climate model that ignores real world observations, or the model that predicts jobs "saved or created" by stimulus as a product of dollars spent, then looks at dollars spent, runs the formula, and concludes that the results have matched the prediction.
There is a large income disparity in America. However, while our rich are much richer than theirs, our poor are also much richer than theirs.
Oct '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
"Starving people don't suffer from 'obesity epidemics.'"
Nor do they own cell phones. And satellite dishes or digital cable and HBO. And big-screen tvs. And cars. And on and on.
They can have all these things...but they can't have skin in the game and pay income taxes? Brilliant, Roubini. Brilliant.
Jun '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
R. Craigen: I did have a bit of difficulty deriving the title of your post from its comments, Claire. I suppose it's based on the quip at the end. As one who'se travelled a bit, I think this notion that you've got to "be there" to properly judge a place is a bit problematic. You could walk down a street of Iran anywhere a visitor is likely to go and, despite the dress code you might convince yourself you're in a European democracy. Who would guess that this is the largest state sponsor of international terrorism, brutally oppressive at home, etc?
Some forests can't be seen by examining trees; indeed they can be obscured by them. · Aug 15 at 11:33pm
My thoughts exactly. I have had numerous experiences with visiting Europeans who are here all of a week, with their touring limited to NYC, state, "You Americans....."
I used to get into battles with my German brother-in-law about this. He and his wife traveled quite a bit, but much of their interaction was with their Fulbright companions. I always had to remind them that there are over 300 million of us.
Jun '10
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
Also, the vast majoirity of American born & bred press corps buys that line of malarkey. It would not be corrected simply by having the foreigner visit our county or even live here for a while. It's a narrow mindset, a pre-conceived position from which he will never stray, despite evidence to the contrary.
He'd learn more in a timely fashion by reading a broad range of authors. But that requires an open mind.
Re: Why it is Important to Visit Countries to Understand Them
So, Dr. Doom thinks that we need more debt. Like Krugman, he is so much a partisan that, when it comes to certain issues, he checks his intellect with his overcoat before entering the debate.