Comment on John Cochrane on ‘Smith, MMT, and science in economics’
Blog-Reference and Blog-Reference
MMTers assert that mainstream economics is defective. MMTers are right. Mainstreamers, in turn, assert that MMT is defective. Mainstreamers are right.
The fact of the matter is that the major approaches ― Walrasianism, Keynesianism, Marxianism, Austrianism, MMT ― are mutually contradictory, axiomatically false, materially/formally inconsistent, and that all get the foundational concept of the subject matter ― profit ― wrong. Economics is a failed science. As a consequence, discussions between mainstream and MMT never get above the talk-show level.#1, #2, #3
John Cochrane freely admits that he did not “read about things [MMT] in some detail, ideally from original sources, before reviewing them, which I have not done. Life is short.” Yes, but fortunately it is long enough to waste it on brain-dead blather.
John Cochrane has not realized that orthodox economics, which he represents, is proto-scientific garbage. Neither does he refute MMT in a scientifically correct way by proving material/formal inconsistency.#4 He simply echoes Noah Smith’s slander of MMT as a Guru-based theory.
After having himself exposed as an incompetent scientist, John Cochrane goes fully off-topic by extensively waffling about the “sociology of science”. This “sociology” is essentially a description of how contemporary academic economics works. It confirms what Feynman has described long ago as cargo cult science: “They’re doing everything right. The form is perfect. ... But it doesn’t work. ... So I call these things cargo cult science because they follow all the apparent precepts and forms of scientific investigation, but they’re missing something essential.”
What is still missing in economics after 200+ years is the true theory. Economics is a failed science. This is the common denominator of mainstream economics and MMT. Both are refuted on all counts.#5
Life is short ― trivially true ― so, in no case waste it with the fake science of economics, not with the proto-scientific garbage of mainstream and MMT, and not with the confused blatherers who call themselves scientists but have never been anything else than clowns in the political Circus Maximus.
Egmont Kakarot-Handtke
#1 MMT vs Mainstream: examining proto-scientific garbage in detail
#2 The not so funny MMT vs Neoliberalism slapstick
#3 Economics ― nothing but claptrap, twaddle, drivel, slip-slop, wish-wash, waffle, and proto-scientific garbage
#4 For the full-spectrum refutation of MMT see cross-references MMT
#5 Economics: The greatest scientific fraud in modern times
Related 'Economics is a science? You must be joking!' and 'What is so great about cargo cult science? or, How economists learned to stop worrying about failure' and 'MMT is better than mainstream economics but still not good enough' and 'Macroeconomics: Economists are too stupid for science' and 'From Keynes’ fatal blunder to the true economic model' and 'Links on capital-T Truth, stupidity, corruption'.