Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXVI)

“The greatest Ponzi scheme in history was invented and covered up by the French state.” (Auguste Bardamu)

The greatest Ponzi scheme in history is currently being performed before all eyes by President Trump.

The free-market economy runs on profit. Macroeconomic profit is given…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXV)

 

“WE'VE FOUND 14 MAGIC MONEY COMPUTERS IN THE GOVERNMENT. THEY SEND MONEY OUT OF NOTHING.”
“I CALL A MAGIC MONEY COMPUTER ANY COMPUTER WHICH CAN JUST MAKE MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR. THAT'S MAGIC MONEY.” (Elon Musk)

Elon Musk never understood profit. Because profit is the foundational…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXCV)

Bastiat had NO idea how the economy works; he was just another agenda pusher/clown in the political CircusMaximus.

“… I do not hold that Bastiat was a bad theorist. I hold that he was no theorist.” (Schumpeter)

Bastiat should not be included in the history of economic thought,…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXCIV)

“When Pres Milei swept to power in Argentina, he promised to end corruption. Forget Milei's rhetoric.” (Steve Hanke)

No one ever took President Milei seriously, except for Austrians and other people who do not know the difference between politics and science.

The first thing…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXCIII)

“After decades of strong growth, Poland is expected to continue as the growth champion in Europe. Entrepreneurialism, hard work and EU integration drive the Polish economic wonder. Without addressing the high fiscal deficit and demographics, the success story will end though.”…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Entrepreneur (III)

“Six thousand years ago, someone invented the plow, and we all got wealthier. A gentle reminder that all civilizational wealth is driven by invention.” (Jeff Bezos)

Jeff Bezos does not understand the difference between productivity and financial wealth. Productivity comes from…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXCII)

“Krugman boards the Trump train. Who could have predicted this?” (Mike)

Economists and scientists have only a superficial resemblance. Neither mainstream nor heterodox economists ever had any idea what science is all about. They still are cargo cult scientists (Feynman's term).… pic.twitter.com/B2reCkqvRb

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 30, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle Austrianism (CXI)

“Böhm-Bawerk explained it at the end of the nineteenth century: value does not arise from cost and rise up to price; it arises from the marginal utility that the consumer attributes to the good … ” (Miguel Hernández)

Neither Marxians nor Austrians ever understood profit and, by… pic.twitter.com/G1UPAoxrSI

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 28, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Money (CXLIV)

“You pay a premium to have things now rather than later. That premium has a name, and Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk built an entire theory of interest around it in 1889. He called it time preference.” (Handre)

The problem with time preference is that one has to clearly distinguish…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 28, 2026

Occasional X: I=S ― the biggest idiocy in macroeconomics (V)

“Keynes built his entire system on a confusion a first-year student should catch: he treated saving and investment as enemies. Pull a dollar out of consumption and stuff it under the mattress, and the whole economy supposedly seizes up. Demand collapses. Workers get fired. The… pic.twitter.com/FORc3Ud6rs

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 26, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Employment (XXXVI)

“Sticky wages in most contemporary models assume that all workers belong to a union that has a labor monopoly and charges above market clearing wage. Reality, not many unions, and more worry about employer market power. Unreality of NK model assumptions at some point sticks in… pic.twitter.com/nSosg74tEM

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 26, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Employment (XXXV)

 

“Raising the minimum wage doesn't make workers more productive, but rather, it just makes them more expensive.” (infineo)

There is no behavioral relationship between the minimum wage and productivity. The employment theory has been false since Adam Smith.

Economics claims to be… pic.twitter.com/yaGH7r9myw

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 26, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXCI)

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” (Winston Churchill)

Psychologism is the method of choice in the political sphere. Scientists do not impute motives to other people; they… pic.twitter.com/Ox8yDOl8O6

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 26, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLIX)

“While ‘progressives’ in this country and elsewhere were still deluding themselves that communism and fascism represented opposite poles, more and more people began to ask themselves whether these new tyrannies were not the outcome of the same tendencies.” (Hayek Quotes)…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 26, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCXC)

“The Book That Dismantled Marx Was Almost Never Published. He [Menger] Saved It.” (Peter Boettke)

Austrianism is failed/fake science to this day, but Peter Boettke is too stupid to get it.

Carl von Menger never understood profit, and by logical consequence, how the economic…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 25, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle Keynesianism (C)

“John Maynard Keynes on Malthus and Eugenics, Introduction” (Phillip Magness)

Keynes, too, misunderstood the concept of profit because he was too stupid for elementary algebra. ⇓ Consequently, he botched the long-overdue Paradigm Shift from microfoundations to macrofoundations.… pic.twitter.com/FwU08UVEnz

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 25, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXIX)

“Man has developed rules of conduct not because he knows but because he does not know what all the consequences of a particular action will be.” (Friedrich Hayek)

People, especially economists, don't know much.

Friedrich Hayek never understood profit and, by logical…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 24, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Money (CXLIII)

“The velocity of money doesn’t have a life of its own. It is not an independent entity and, hence, it can’t cause anything. Contrary to popular thinking, money does not circulate.” (Mises Institute)

True, but it doesn't follow that Austrians ever understood how the economic… pic.twitter.com/81tj0azuEU

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 23, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXVIII)

“You can create any number of jobs. Have people dig holes. Fill them back up. Repeat. That's employment. That's not prosperity.” (Milton Friedman, Free to Choose)

Milton Friedman never understood profit and, as a logical consequence, how the economic system works. That's…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 23, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Money (CXLII)

 

“In fact, our standard account of monetary history is precisely backwards. We did not begin with barter, discover money, and then eventually develop credit systems. It happened precisely the other way around.” (David Graeber)

For the axiomatically correct Monetary Theory, see…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 22, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXVII)

 

“We are not governed by the people—that’s a myth that carries over from Abraham Lincoln’s day. We don’t have government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

“We have government of the people, by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats.” (Milton Friedman Quotes)

Whatever… pic.twitter.com/kiC9sYzIpq

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 21, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLVIII)

“….we attack a 150 year old Walras question that's gone unanswered, not for lack of trying … Q: Is the market equilibrium stable or unstable?” (Ivan Werning)

There are multiple methodological faults with General Equilibrium Theory. One of them is time/simultaneity. It has to… pic.twitter.com/qfLcAXvFnB

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 21, 2026

Related 'AI: boosting scientific competence in economics (VI)' and 'Key Issues: Hilbert-Bourbaki-Mill and von Neumann's monster-structure'

Occasional X: Economics still lacks correct macrofoundations (XXXVII)

Robert Heilbroner saw the light for a short moment before he fell back into the darkness of political economics: “Surely the recognition of the inextricably social roots of all behavior leads to the view that macrofoundations must precede microbehavior, not the other way round,… pic.twitter.com/zNf9HppX8W

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 19, 2026

For more about Robert Heilbroner, see AXECquery. 

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLVII)

 

Joan Robinson will always be remembered for calling for a Paradigm Shift: “Scrap the lot and start again.”

The representative economist still does not understand anything. The Paradigm Shift consists of the move from false microeconomic axioms and false macroeconomic axioms to…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 19, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLVI)

“The tax is there to create a demand for the government’s currency. Before anyone can pay the tax, someone has to do the work to earn the currency.” (Stephanie Kelton)

“… this one neat trick to control an entire population.” (Robert Murphy)

This is the usual psychologism,…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 19, 2026

“How is what I said about Kelton any different from what you said about me?” (Robert Murphy)

As a matter of principle, what you or I or anybody else said about Stephanie Kelton is irrelevant. Economics is not gossip about people but an analysis of the economic system. As Ricardo…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 19, 2026

The point is that your economics, and that of MMT, is proven to be false, and that you are engaging in silly psychologism. What anybody's motives are is irrelevant as far as economics as a science is concerned. Your posts are disinfotainment.

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 20, 2026

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXIV)

“The $1.5 trillion investment in our defense in FY27 is a MESSAGE TO THE WORLD.” (Pete Hegseth)

The message is that Pete Hegseth doesn't understand how the economy works.

(i) The increased military spending will increase the public deficit.

(ii) Macroeconomic profit Qm is…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 18, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLV)

“Kevin Warsh effectively just stated he doesn’t believe in the Phillips Curve trade-off between inflation and unemployment.” (Judy Shelton)

This proves 3 things
• Orthodox employment theory has always been false, i.e., never satisfied the criteria of Science;
• Heterodoxy… pic.twitter.com/zGd8sNOqRC

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 18, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLIV)

“Economists like Harold Demsetz and Ronald Coase based their property rights views on utilitarianism. Murray Rothbard based his on justice.“ (Mises Institute)

Harold Demsetz, Ronald Coase, and Murray Rothbard got the subject's foundational economic concept — profit — wrong. This…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 17, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle MMT (CCIV)

“Jay Forrester, the father of System Dynamics, believed that in order to change a state's course on an issue, you have to change public perception first. To me, this is exactly what MMT community and fantastic ppl such as Stephanie Kelton have been doing.” (Shahin Ashkiani)…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 17, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLIII)

“Tech change between 1870 and 1890 favored a slight shift to household production causing us to miss some gains in welfare that could not be measured.” (Vincent Geloso)

One characteristic problem of economics as a failed/fake science is that economists endlessly discuss minor…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 17, 2026

“Biased measurement doesn't invalidate economics; …” (Sr simpático)

Clarification: Biased measurement is different from false numbers that are ultimately created by illicit operations. When somebody creates and uses counterfeit money in a big way, testing the Quantity Theory of…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 17, 2026

“Distorted numbers from failed policies (like central bank's) will lead to an outcome that can me measured as has happened in 🇦🇷 for example.” (Sr simpático)

All policies have mesurable outcomes. This is trivial and has nothing to do with false data.

Example: If the govenment…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 17, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle Austrianism (CX)

“If history could teach us anything, it would be that private property is inextricably linked with civilization.” (Ludwig von Mises)

'If history could teach us anything, it would be that Austrianism is inextricably linked with political agenda pushing.' (AXEC)

Austrians in…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 16, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXVI)

“The Liberal party I want defends … (Vincent Geloso)

J.S. Mill was the only scientist among low-IQ economists. He understood the difference between science and politics. ⇓

After J.S. Mill, economics has been taken over by look-alike scientists.

The representative economist… pic.twitter.com/V2fQRy6p1M

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 16, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXV)

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs — my needs being quite considerable.” (Alex Tabarrok)

The fact that Marx requested financial assistance from Engels does not provide evidence that his economic theory was false. This requires a scientifically… pic.twitter.com/TpQwSc4I91

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 16, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Employment (XXXIV)

“What's wrong?” (Shahin Ashkiani)

The representative economist is wrong.

Economics claims to be Science but is NOT. The major approaches and their derivatives are mutually contradictory, axiomatically false, materially/formally inconsistent, and all got profit wrong. Because… pic.twitter.com/wq1AnJkszM

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 16, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXIV)

“… all models are wrong，…” (Hayashi Heikichi)

No, not all models are wrong; only Walrasian, Keynesian, Marxian, and Austrian models are provably false. AXEC models are axiomatically true. ⇓

The representative economist is NOT, and never has been, a competent scientist but… pic.twitter.com/sIEl45f8Cg

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 15, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXIII)

The crucial point with Marx/Socialism/Communism/Capitalism is whether Marx understood how the monetary economy works. This presupposes an understanding of the foundational economic concept of profit. The point is that Marx and Marxians have no idea what profit is. For proof, see… pic.twitter.com/vV6gN6BBee

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 15, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXII)

Keynes, too, misunderstood the concept of profit because he was too stupid for elementary algebra. ⇓ Consequently, he botched the long-overdue Paradigm Shift from microfoundations to macrofoundations. This initial blunder means that the entire field of economics (both micro and… pic.twitter.com/Sv8IFnZhVW

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 15, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Production (I)

“The argument commits a category error: it confuses matter with value. The Earth is indeed a closed system of atoms. But economic growth does not count atoms — it counts the value those atoms deliver to human beings, and that value lives in arrangement and knowledge, not in… pic.twitter.com/SVvVM8znxg

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 15, 2026

Related 'Matter matters: productivity, profit, and non-marginal factor prices' 

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Distribution, Inequality (XX)

“Its a simple pitch: markets are egalitarian forces that improve living standards really fast. Markets minimize the need for the state to do things, complement some of its (the state) good things, and can offset some of the bad things it does.

The proof is the extended gilded…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 15, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLII)

“You don't save first and then create investment. In a modern monetary economy, investment comes first.” (Relearning Economics)

Wrong. Nothing comes first or second. The saving of the household sector is absolutely independent of the investment of the business sector.… pic.twitter.com/pwsOj0pFhm

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 14, 2026

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXIII)

“If you have any doubt about the mainstream econ psychosis, or in Romer's words, their 'noncommittal relationship with truth,' read their cultish rants about the Guardian piece. We are drowning in debt, fascism is rising and clowns warn about 'the danger of degrowth for…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 13, 2026

Occasional X: I=S ― the biggest idiocy in macroeconomics (IV)

 

“Short version of many great points. If you redistribute wealth in order to support consumption, you get no wealth — no savings, investment, factories, etc. Poor people will not leave 99% of their new wealth invested in productive capital as billionaires do.” (John Cochrane)

It… pic.twitter.com/KbGzQa92Y2

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 13, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXXI)

“Economics is the study of the economy, not the study of economists.” (Ricardo Reis)

Insane Economic Quotes is disinfotainment.

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

Occasional X: I=S ― the biggest idiocy in macroeconomics (III)

 

“You save money because you value future consumption over present consumption. That's time preference, and it drives everything in a capitalist economy. When you delay gratification, you create the capital that builds tomorrow's wealth.” (Handre)

This is the bedtime story that…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXX)

“The bottom line is if you care about economic freedom, democracy is the way to go and if you care about democracy, economic freedom is the way to go.” (A. Tabarrok)

Economists knew that economically/spiritually capitalism is in itself a dead concept. So, they coupled it…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXIX)

“The final outcome of the credit expansion is general impoverishment.” (Ludwig von Mises)

Austrians in general, and von Mises in particular, never understood the profit mechanism, which is the pivotal feature of the free-market economy.

The free-market economy runs on profit.…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXLI)

“Property rights aren't some abstract legal concept. They're the operating system for human cooperation. When you can't secure the fruits of your labor, you stop producing beyond survival. Why build a better mousetrap when the village chief's nephew can just take it?” (Handre)…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

To understand the difference between genuine science and cargo cult science, i.e., business with a lab coat, you just need to look at the long history of rivalry between Tesla and Edison.

“After Edison allegedly dismissed Tesla's AC ideas as impractical and reneged on a promised…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 12, 2026

Related 'Toward the New Academy'  

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXVIII)

“Keynes, in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, set forth a hypothesis which was a beautiful one, and it really altered the shape of economics. But it turned out that it was a wrong hypothesis.” (quoted by Milton Friedman Quotes)

Keynes, too, misunderstood the… pic.twitter.com/CAM0Kdk81p

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 11, 2026

Occasional X: The history of economic thought is the history of scientific failure (XLIV)

“… but that’s bookkeeping, not causation. ” (MacroMadeSimple)

(i) That's one of the dumbest sentences in economics. The speedometer shows exactly the speed of a car, but does not cause it. Likewise with accounting, it shows exactly the amount of macroeconomic profit, which is…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Yes, we can resume that Austrianism is failed/fake science and that Austrians are dumber than a sack of rocks.

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXVIII)

I have summarized 7,354 posts, 78 papers, and 1 book in the table below. ⇓ If you still do not understand economics, your last hope is an excellent brain specialist. pic.twitter.com/wgU8kaQ27O

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Profit (CLIII)

“History shows capitalism generated profits and rising living standards long before chronic deficit spending.” (MacroMadeSimple)

History shows that you can tell people anything, as long as you make it sound that there is some authority behind it, be it god, holiness, a voice… pic.twitter.com/ab7F8X2G8n

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXVII)

 

“Venice built a Republic that lasted 1,100 Years. The United States is about to turn 250 years old.” (Students for Liberty)

Historically true, but from this does not follow that Austrianism is a scientifically true (materially/formally consistent) economic theory. Venice is an…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXVI)

“John Maynard Keynes lived as a quintessential elitist who despised the very people his theories claimed to help.” (Handre)

Keynes, too, misunderstood the concept of profit because he was too stupid for elementary algebra. ⇓ Consequently, he botched the long-overdue Paradigm… pic.twitter.com/rAmWjwLNiA

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 9, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Distribution, Inequality (XIX)

“In 1879, JP Morgan paid a man to invent the lie that is the foundation of modern economics. A billionaire [Nick Hanauer],who helped start Amazon just exposed the whole thing on Diary of a CEO, and once you hear it you will never look at paychecks the same way again …So JP… pic.twitter.com/Bh7xeO5sRm

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 9, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Profit (CLII)

“Where do you get the money to save? If it is from your wage income then your spending won't allow the producers to save. Where the profit comes from?” (Shahin Ashkiani)

Neither Shahin Ashkiani nor Miguel Anxo Bastos ever understood profit. Both are scientifically very… pic.twitter.com/LiUSFUU6vF

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 9, 2026

 

Related 'Key Issues: Nature and causes of profit' and 'Key Issues: Profit'.

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXL)

“The standard of living of the common man is higher in those countries which have the greatest number of wealthy entrepreneurs.” (Ludwig von Mises)

Ludwig von Mises never understood profit and, by consequence, how the economic system works.

First of all, it is important to…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 9, 2026

“The richness of America Is provided by NATURAL RESOURCES Like oil.” (Lawrence Widman)

The richness of America consists of valued natural resources, valued capital goods, and financial assets. The source of the latter is private/public deficit-spending, which materializes as…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXVII)

“My fav clown once again failed to understand that humans don't optimize and modelling human behavior should begin with observing them not with 'let's assume blah blah blah bc it is easier to model it in this way and aligned with our ideology'.” (Shahin Ashkiani)

That sentence… pic.twitter.com/qEizFdC3Iy

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 9, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle Austrianism (CIX)

“Rothbard didn't just publish another economics textbook in 1962. He torched the entire discipline and rebuilt it from first principles, using only logic and human action as his foundation. … he constructed economic theory the way Euclid built geometry: starting with…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

“Profits arise from entrepreneurs satisfying consumers in voluntary markets.” (MacroMadeSimple)

If the entrepreneurs as a whole satisfy consumers in voluntary markets in the elementary production-consumption economy, but the household sector does not spend the whole period's… pic.twitter.com/S9tCtEPojR

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 10, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Employment (XXXIII)

“The 1970s obliterated the most cherished myth in mainstream economics: the Phillips Curve trade-off between unemployment and inflation. When stagflation hit America with double-digit inflation alongside soaring unemployment, Keynesian economists scrambled like cockroaches when… pic.twitter.com/d2EcTYKrtE

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXXXIX)

“Jia argued that the past two decades of Chinese academic economics have been dominated by western neoliberal economics and that needs to change.” (Peter Ryan)

True.

'Western neoliberal' economists are look-alike scientists. Economics is what Feynman called cargo cult science.… pic.twitter.com/CDrB6rXTg0

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

Occasional X: Economics curriculum ― the transmutation of plain morons to graduate morons (XII)

“Three Big Myths about What's Plaguing Higher Ed.” (Phil Magness)

As far as economics is concerned, higher ed has no scientific content.

Neither mainstream nor heterodox economists had any idea what science is all about. They are still a cargo cult science and can't do the…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

Occasional X: The futile attempt to recycle Kalecki (XVI)

There is no such thing as Kalecki's Paradoxes.

Kalecki got the subject's foundational economic concept — profit — wrong. ⇓ This is self-disqualifying. Even today, his followers are too stupid to understand the elementary algebra that underlies macroeconomic accounting.

For… pic.twitter.com/D0UhheECqs

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXVI)

“The apriori trash they generate and call it economics: …” (Shahin Ashkiani)

It is not the question that microeconomics has been proto-scientific garbage since the beginning; the question is: what will take its place?

The founding fathers defined economics as a social science,… pic.twitter.com/hmDohkGRda

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 8, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXV)

“Marx never held a real job. Never met payroll. Never risked capital or faced bankruptcy. He spent decades theorizing about labor value while avoiding actual labor. His insights into production came from library books, not factory floors.” (Handre)

Whether this is correct or not… pic.twitter.com/mAmbxDDnoz

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 7, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXV)

“If I wanted to catch up/refresh with the last ten years of macro, what is the best single resource?” (Vincent Geloso)

Start with the AXEC Blog ⇓https://t.co/4CPfqKAf89 pic.twitter.com/ddT7ekMUgj

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 7, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXXXVIII)

“This is Ricardo’s Vice. The practice of selecting your conclusion first, constructing assumptions that make your mathematics arrive there, and presenting the internally consistent logic as empirical truth about the world. Yet. Logic is not truth. If there is one thing worth…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 7, 2026

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXII)

 

“Billionaires increased most in the two places where the economy grew and poverty drastically went down: South Asia and East Asia. The best solution to poverty is a freer, growing, dynamic economy.” (Luis Garicano)

Luis Garicano never understood profit and, by consequence, how…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 7, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXXXVII)

“If an idea sounds compassionate but ignores incentives and basic market realities, it’s not an economic principle, it’s an emotional reaction dressed up as policy. That’s why left policies like minimum wage or rent controls, contradicting basic economics, just make things… pic.twitter.com/ltDKJtQZWP

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 6, 2026

For more about the Totem of the Micro, see AXECquery. 

Related 'Bang — the representative economist and supply-demand-equilibrium are dead'.

Occasional X: Economics and math ― they just can't get it together (XII)

“Murray Rothbard, like other Austrian Economists, believed that the heavy use of mathematics in economic analysis damaged economic understanding instead of enhancing it. This wasn't science, he said; it was 'scientism'.” (Mises Institute)

True, economics is not yet a science,…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 5, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXXXVI)

“Economics has never been, and never will be, a value-free science.” (Jostein Hauge)

Economics has never been a science. Since the Enlightenment, economists have never understood what science is. The comparison says it all: “But though the Wealth of Nations contained no really… pic.twitter.com/JgTR5hSXFy

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 5, 2026

Related 'The case for pure economics' and 'Separation of politics and economics' and 'Key Issues: Political economics ― at wits' end'.

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXXI)

“… but saying Thomas Piketty is economically incompetent is not serious. ” (Hervé Joly)

No, Thomas Piketty is not the incompetent exception but the rule. The history of economic thought provides proof that the representative economist is NOT, and never has been, a competent…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 5, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXIV)

“Smith never said incentives were enough. He said markets work when a society develops virtues. Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love.” (Students for Liberty, quoting Deirdre McCloskey)

This may be true or false psychology/sociology, but it is not economics.… pic.twitter.com/HxSv607DxH

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 4, 2026

For more about McCloskey, see AXECquery.

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXIII)

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” (Friedrich Hayek)

The curious task of economics is to figure out how the economy works. Friedrich Hayek never understood profit and, by logical…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 3, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXIV)

“A great comment from hidetomitanaka on the magisterial paper by guido_lorenzoni and IvanWerning and one I endorse.” (Roger Farmer)

General Equilibrium Theory was dead from the start. It is the unassailable proof that the history of economic thought is the history of scientific… pic.twitter.com/mje42klaur

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 3, 2026

Related 'Still alive in some heads: equilibrium' 

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Price Mechanism (XVII)

“If this interpretation is correct, then the issue is not merely whether prices are flexible or sticky. The deeper issue concerns the social ontology of prices themselves. In the Walrasian tradition, prices are primarily signals. In the later Hicksian tradition, prices are also… pic.twitter.com/kBm1RSnCIg

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 3, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Price Mechanism (XVI)

“Prices diverge from labor values in proportion to the organic composition of capital.” (Students for Liberty, paraphrasing Marx)

Marx got profit wrong. As a logical consequence, he did not understand how the economy works — in particular, how the price mechanism works.

The… pic.twitter.com/4gl6R1bJnx

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 3, 2026

Occasional X: Clueless economists / Science (CCCXXXV)

“This comes from the tradition of econometrics. The idea is that everything in economics has to be measurable like in physics. So economists have to keep denying the inexact reality of economics at every turn. A good example of this is the most inexact field in economics: macro.”… pic.twitter.com/KCG3rw2NWU

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 2, 2026

 

Related Postmodernism — the philosophy of scientific write-offs

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXII)

“Many economists say that criticism in their discipline is very harsh and standards are very high.” (Ryan Briggs)

Economists are look-alike scientists. What they say about themselves and their discipline is hallucinatory.

The major approaches and their derivatives are mutually… pic.twitter.com/BN9UWCif4w

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 2, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXXI)

“Hoppe refuted induction in 1985” (quoted by charsky)

No. He merely summarized the methodological flaws of Austrianism.

Austrianism has always been proto-scientific garbage. Educate yourself with the AXECqueryhttps://t.co/v8xOkJhaWn

Hoppe never understood profit. When the…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 2, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXX)

“We really need to do a thorough purging of the United States.” (Paul Krugman)

This may be right or wrong, but it's not economics.

Economists and scientists have only a superficial resemblance. Neither mainstream nor heterodox economists ever had any idea what science is all… pic.twitter.com/ltU9pfOB2A

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 2, 2026

Occasional X: The foul spirit of political economics (CCLXIX)

“'Economic theory' is a very strange beast—it has to be wrong, or else your map is the size of the territory, and hence is useless; …” (Brad DeLong)

Brad DeLong is again playing with the word 'wrong'. Wrong in science means material or logical inconsistency: “The chief demerit…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 1, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXIII)

It's nice when the Walrasian losers Albrecht and Werning offer each other emotional support. It does not help. Supply-demand-equilibrium has been dead from the beginning. If the axioms are false, the analytical superstructure is false. ⇓

For details, see
The monstrous… pic.twitter.com/R8cszi28Dw

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 1, 2026

Occasional X: Paradigm Shift (CXII)

“….we attack a 150 year old Walras question that's gone unanswered, not for lack of trying …” (Ivan Werning)

The founding fathers have defined economics as a social science, and accordingly, it has been based on subjective/behavioral assumptions/axioms. This has been the… pic.twitter.com/yXWQAFMsoo

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 1, 2026

Occasional X: How it works (CDLXXX)

“Musk warns: 'The entire existing economic system is on the verge of collapse, and no force can stop it.” (Trader)

True.

“Because artificial intelligence and robotics are not creating growth — they are destroying the 'scarcity framework' upon which economics is based.”

Not…

— AXEC (@EgmontHandtke) June 1, 2026