Re:Economists don’t understand much about the macroeconomy
by NeedMoreTea on Thursday September 19, 2019 @08:01AM
(#21015359)
When politicians create and force change, as a matter of dogma, and become known for carrying their books or following unproven theory from Hayek or Freedman, yes it probably matters. When those same politicians or economists point at the Chile miracle (that was a disaster), or economists become widely known as the "Berkeley Mafia", yes it probably matters.
Globalisation was about externalising costs and impacts. To hell with the local consequences - we got a decade or two of deindustrialisation, with lives and regions ruined for generations. Political fashions tend to stem from economic fashions without regard for the bigger picture. Or environment, citizens and residents.
Re:Economists don’t understand much about the macroeconomy
by bakuninsbart on Thursday September 19, 2019 @08:56AM
(#21015689)
Economics puts huge focus on material development, less so on health, culture or well-being. Your example is actually quite illustrating. When you do not have local politicians trying their best to keep their region relevant and populated, only those people who cannot leave for better opportunities remain. Within a city this means having ghettos, within a country it means having deep divisions. Globally it means you have a rich centre and a poor periphery. This might maximize productivity in a capitalist society, its certainly does not maximize happiness, and it exacerbates other problems like urban decay, crime, divisive politics and much more.
Here is an example: Globalization leads to concentration of economic opportunity in certain locations. If you simply go by the book then workers simply move to where the economic opportunity is and therefore everyone is better off than before globalization.
But local politicians of those locations want to avoid displacing their existing residents. Therefore they pass laws that make sense in the short term for their residents. Over the long term however they prevent the mobilization of all those future workers and the vast majority are worse off as a result of globalization.