Why are so many politicians and common people ignorant when it comes to economics...

Why are so many politicians and common people ignorant when it comes to economics? Often times I hear people say "we need to raise the economy," "boost the economic level," or "this will strengthen the US economically." Even phrases like "economical analysis says..." are common. I usually hear this when people talk about the minimum wage. What gives?

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange
telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11884783/Rule-Britannia-London-overtakes-New-York-as-the-worlds-best-financial-centre.html
twitter.com/AnonBabble

It's the complete opposite in the UK

Politicians think the economy is the number 1 priority in all circumstances and risk everything just to maintain it.

They pretty much all just studied economics at Uni and think that qualifies them to comment on every other aspect of society

It makes me mad because they know fuck all about science

schools don't give you an education instead they train you for a job. After school people go to work 8 hours a day 5 days a week after which they want to see family/friends, relax and spend money so they never get a well rounded education therefore they don't understand the system they are embedded in

Then why is American economy so good while British economy sucks?

The towel folder of the exchequer studied history, he has no idea what he's doing

London is the financial capital of the world, you ignorant burger

lol y u mad tho

>London is the financial capital of the world
Sure, pal. Sure it is.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange
>It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$19.69 trillion as of May 2015.[6]

Maybe 120 years ago.

Do I really have to google it for you?

>London overtakes New York as the world's best financial centre
>telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11884783/Rule-Britannia-London-overtakes-New-York-as-the-worlds-best-financial-centre.html

Cry more

I went to high school in Florida and economics was with American government as part of a two-part class. It was actually required to graduate.

Politicians typically aren't ignorant in regards to economics because they have advisors who teach them, but they speak to people who are. They know they can get away with saying stupid shit about
things people know nothing about.

>best means largest
Not surprised if you're English desu.

>Moving the goalposts

My original statement was correct and you came here to argue

London: "Financial capital of the world"

Well this is news to me. Really shows that the US is headed in the wrong direction.

Nope.

You really think Bernie has any clue how the economy works and just says all that stuff?

Proxy puppet head city state operated by the Barons of Basel, the BIS, IMF, World Bank et al. Why no one understands "economics" and never will, but it's just a complex usury scheme and has been for 1000 years.

Do you think they're wrong for some reason? If the economy doesn't grow, no more jobs get created. Which means millions every year will go without. You know there's a fucking reason PhD Economists from Harvard and Yale have been Sec. of the Treasury and Fed Chairpersons, right?

The biggest problem with laypeople and their understanding of economics is that they think it's a very simple, obvious subject. Once an economic explanation is given for something, it all seems very straightforward, and intuitive. So, people think that they can just flesh out an economic policy in their head, while in reality there are countless factors and possible effects that haven't been accounted for.

Not the guy you replied to, but I really believe that's plausible. The whole "Mortages have 3% interest, but student loans 6%! What gives?!" thing is literally economics 101, but think about how many dumb students with unemployable degrees are going to buy into that. Even if he did get elected, there's no way he'd be able to keep that promise.

Economics isn't science

It's one step above psychology and one step below tarot card reading

Take this shit to biz or pol

Le physics master race!!!1!!! xD
Fuck off. Sorry Econ and Psych are harder to test for than your Applied Maths

Sorry bongman. I work in finance, and one article in the Telegraph isn't going to change consensus in the industry. New York is the alpha and omega. We have five bulge brackets here (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup), as well as countless private equities, HFTs, and hedge funds.

As someone with close to zero economic knowledge, would someone care to explain why "Mortages have 3% interest, but student loans 6%! What gives" has an obvious answer?

London hasn't been the financial center of the world since WWI, bud.

What can you put up if you fail to repay a student loan, what can you put up if you fail to repay a mortgage? What is the risk of not being able to pay a student loan, statistically, against the risk of not being able to pay a mortgage? If you can answer both of those and put yourself in the place of a creditor, you can see the answer obviously.

>know fuck all about science
In case you didn't know but public policy only influences science in so much as the amount of funding they give to R&D and research grants to unis. No politician needs to know anything about science beyond the fact that it matters but they do need to know a quite a bit about the economy.

>he has no idea what he's doing
>implying
>I won't address anything the article says but I'll say that it's wrong because "I work in finance", as if that makes me an expert on the global economy.

This user answered it pretty well.

Basically, it boils down to having something to take back if you can't pay the loan back. The creditor can't come, and take your degree away from you.

If you don't pay your mortgage, the creditor takes your house. They have some collateral to mitigate the risk of giving you the loan.

Oh, of course. Thank you.

>British economy sucks?
>top 5 in terms of size despite being a small island state that can probably fit into Germany
>recovered from the crash of '08 better than any other European economy
>employment rate at record highs

People also don't seem to understand keynesianism ever.

Austerity/high taxes during the boom
Deficit spending/low taxes during the bust

The first part is pretty much impossible in a democracy though.


Capitalism and socialism are buzzwords with no specific meaning.
People just throw it around for shit they like/dislike.

Minimum wages are useless if your country has a strong labour union culture.

*impossible to test for because it's pseudoscience for brainlets

Ftfy

I love stealing jobs away from unmotivated Brits who have had it made ever since they were born and when I get that desired position instead of them they immediately think I asked less than everyone else and cry about life not being fair.

Fuck you western world snobs.

Hello Poland :)

>people voting for the guys that hate EU and anything not /pol/ish when there are already problems with Ruskies on top of their economic ideas being just handing over 500 zloty for each kid cause muh demographics while cutting that money out from everything else
It's ok. I will get a degree and steal some foreign jobs.

>What gives?
Germany around 1930 shows what happens when a large fraction of the population loses out, feels cheated and believe they have nothing to lose in electing a painter. Societies are much more fragile than many think. Lord of the Flies is always near. And the Germans were not alone in making a huge mistake with open eyes. It opens up for evil, on a scale normal people cannot comprehend.

Secondly if you keep people too deep into poverty you also lose customers. Henry Ford, a though guy in business, realised this. Also on the scale of national economies inland consumption is good. Deflation correspondingly spirals the economy downwards.

So a survivable minimum wage makes sense in terms of national stability and national economy.

>We have five bulge brackets here, all destroying wealth of nations
Sorry burgerman. I work in law and business law is gravitating to City and investment with it. People just don't like the rectal examination on entering the US, hard to negotiate when you cannot sit down and have to sit on scooter tires the next 2 months thereafter.

Also people investing like to get their money back without too much haircuts. Try reading Macro Man.