"I suppose the worst thing for me to hear at this point is that there is some reason with which I am not yet familiar which prevents this from having grand scale detrimental effects on the economy,"
You know, I'm pretty sure they do.
I completely fail to comprehend why people actually listen to the talking heads on TV - or for that matter why heads of state listen to them - economics is not a particularly hard concept to wrap one's head around (certainly no more complex than QM), and it seems that the profession is almost entirely dedictated to making up BS to justify the worst economic policies possible. Herp Derp, Production Good, Bailouts Bad, those are the basics. And yet these jokers who couldn't predict the housing market collapse, who can't even explain it, are still paid to mouth off on Fox and CNN.
No wonder he didn't understand it - it's like trying to make sense of Physics, when all you've ever heard is Star Trek technobabble.
Within the next year the US is going to see inflation coming back, and that ass Bernanke is actually going to think it's a good thing!
The problem with educating the public - and you're bang on about being nowhere near 'diminishing returns' - is two-fold. First of all, most Economists are absolute morons, who practice a faith more than a discipline. The second is that there are vested interests who want to maintain the status quo. Keynesianism has probably hurt millions over the years, but it sure as hell benefits the Keynesians, while promising the Voting Public bread and circuses.
Edit: I'm just going to link to this guy: http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/ He's a lot smarter than me on economics. I can't take credit for all of my ideas.
Within the next year the US is going to see inflation coming back
Based on what I've been reading, I disagree with this. Want to make a bet? ;)
"What I've been reading", incidentally, is the blog of that arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman, who did, in fact, see the housing market collapse coming. And you disagree with Paul Krugman at your peril.
and that ass Bernanke is actually going to think it's a good thing!
It would be, considering that we're in a liquidity trap right now: the Federal Reserve can't lower nominal interest rates any more because t...
Some time ago, I had a talk with my father where I explained to him the concept of the broken window fallacy. The idea was completely novel to him, and while it didn't take long for him to grasp the principles, he still needed my help in coming up with examples of ways that it applies to the market in the real world.
My father has an MBA from Columbia University and has held VP positions at multiple marketing firms.
I am not remotely expert on economics; I do not even consider myself an aficionado. But it has frequently been my observation that not just average citizens, but people whose positions have given them every reason to learn and use the information, are critically ignorant of basic economic principles. It feels like watching engineers try to produce functional designs based on Aristotelian physics. You cannot rationally pursue self interest when your map does not correspond to the territory.
I suppose the worst thing for me to hear at this point is that there is some reason with which I am not yet familiar which prevents this from having grand scale detrimental effects on the economy, since it would imply that businesses cannot be made more sane by the increased dissemination of basic economic information. Otherwise, this seems like a fairly important avenue to address, since the basic standards for economic education, in educated businesspeople and the general public, are so low that I doubt the educational system has even begun to climb the slope of diminishing returns on effort invested into it.