Don't Believe The Truth

isonomicjedi

isonomicjedi

isonomicjedi

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A fine example of not conforming to supposed truths when student points out critical errors of eminent Harvard professors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22223190

I do not know enough about the intricacies of global economics to judge whether specific governments policies have been shaped in any way by believing what is purported as the truth and how much it has cost any nation financially or socially.

However, I think this is a reminder, to us all, to think twice when we are told by 'experts' that a certain premise is true.
 
Yep you should always try think for yourself where ever possible,

but human beings are inherently lazy so would rather just be told what to think. A.K.A religion

IN B4 FLAMESSSS
 
It's an interesting story and it appeals to many people in that it's often fun to see the experts proved fallible but it would be extremely difficult to estimate how much effect it has had on policy and whether anything would have been done differently if the error had been spotted earlier.

It does sound fairly elementary to check that you're including the entire population and that smaller economies (or ones with incomplete data) should be weighted less than others but when you're dealing with complex models it's not always easy to spot an error such as that. We will all make mistakes with our work from time to time, it's just unfortunate for the economists that theirs has been shown up in such a high profile way.
 
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