I have a friend who is a Keynsian economist by training (4 year degree) but he doesn’t work in the field at all. Very often we will be having a discussion and I will say something, and he will disagree. And then punctuate his disagreement with a statement like “economists of all stripes agree that x is so.”
Now, I am exhausted from working 32 hours in the last two days, so I can’t think of anything right off the top of my head, but I am sure you all have heard similar things yourselves.
So, I ask you: what are some of these things? Do the overwhelming majority of economists agree that rent control is bad? Minimum wage?
Knight_of_BAAWA and I know (in the internet sense) a guy who was an an-cap who is now a Keynesian nitwit. He used argue against (for example) minimum wage, and now he argues for it. I was just wondering if, the next time I see him online, I can say something similar to what my friend says “Ya know, economists of all stripes…”
I was under the impression that an overwhelming majority of economists agreed that any kind of price control (minimum wage is a price control) is bad. This group likely excludes those economists employed by or seeking political appointment.
Rarely have I seen an economist argue logically or empirically that price controls work. Most arguments for price controls are emotional.
Well, isn’t a major conclusion of Austrian Economics/praxeology that empiricism is good for very little?
I wouldn’t combat his fallacious thinking with more fallacious thinking.
I would inform him that is it a fallacious argument (Appeal to Popularity, Appeal to Authority), use a parallel argument to show its error, and then ask him to give a logical explanation.
I guess some, but probably a minority, believe in minimum wages due to the imperfection of real-world competition. They think that the labor market is a monopsony.