An economist and self-proclaimed worker bee at the Richmond Fed couldn’t contain his displeasure at what he says is useless jibber-jabber about economics.
So Kartik Athreya, an economist in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, recently posted a rant online entitled “Economics is Hard. Don’t Let Bloggers Tell You Otherwise.”
“Neither non-economist bloggers, nor economists who portray economics – especially macroeconomic policy – as a simple enterprise with clear conclusions, are likely to contribute any insight to the discussion of economics and, as a result, should be ignored by an open-minded lay public,” Athreya wrote. (You can read the essay here.)
The posting, dated June 17, quickly spread across the Internet and was picked up by the very blogs and bloggers Athreya bashes in the four-page diatribe.
Richmond BizSense tracked down Athreya, but when asked about the essay and the attention it has been getting in the online world, he kept mum.
“Unfortunately, I have no comment at this time, except to say that: the views expressed were mine and mine alone, from a personal website, and do NOT reflect either the views of the Richmond Fed, or the Federal Reserve system,” he said in his email.
Athreya had more to say in a video you can watch here.
Athreya seems not to be a fan of Paul Krugman, Matt Yglesias, Brad DeLong, John Stossel, Robert Samuelson or Robert Reich.
“They are the patron saints of the ‘Macroeconomic Policy is Easy: Only Idiots Don’t Think So’ movement,” according to Athreya.
Bloggers didn’t hesitate to fire back. For some of these bloggers’ responses to Athreya, see the following links:
Attempted DeLong Smackdown Watch
Do I Have Anything Interesting to Say?
It’s hard out here for an economist
Kartik Athreya: On Economics Writers
Athreya labels himself a “rank-and-?le PhD economist operating within a central banking system” who has “contributed no earth-shaking ideas to economics and works fundamentally as a worker bee chipping away with known tools at portions of larger problems.”
Athreya wrote that he is aware that his comments might come across as elitist, but he’s not worried about hurting feelings.
“I hope to have alerted you to the giant disconnect that exists between the nuanced discussion that occurs between research economists and the noise (some of it from economists!) that one sees in the web or the op-ed pages of even the very best newspapers of the U.S,” he writes.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips or economic insight to [email protected].
An economist and self-proclaimed worker bee at the Richmond Fed couldn’t contain his displeasure at what he says is useless jibber-jabber about economics.
So Kartik Athreya, an economist in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, recently posted a rant online entitled “Economics is Hard. Don’t Let Bloggers Tell You Otherwise.”
“Neither non-economist bloggers, nor economists who portray economics – especially macroeconomic policy – as a simple enterprise with clear conclusions, are likely to contribute any insight to the discussion of economics and, as a result, should be ignored by an open-minded lay public,” Athreya wrote. (You can read the essay here.)
The posting, dated June 17, quickly spread across the Internet and was picked up by the very blogs and bloggers Athreya bashes in the four-page diatribe.
Richmond BizSense tracked down Athreya, but when asked about the essay and the attention it has been getting in the online world, he kept mum.
“Unfortunately, I have no comment at this time, except to say that: the views expressed were mine and mine alone, from a personal website, and do NOT reflect either the views of the Richmond Fed, or the Federal Reserve system,” he said in his email.
Athreya had more to say in a video you can watch here.
Athreya seems not to be a fan of Paul Krugman, Matt Yglesias, Brad DeLong, John Stossel, Robert Samuelson or Robert Reich.
“They are the patron saints of the ‘Macroeconomic Policy is Easy: Only Idiots Don’t Think So’ movement,” according to Athreya.
Bloggers didn’t hesitate to fire back. For some of these bloggers’ responses to Athreya, see the following links:
Attempted DeLong Smackdown Watch
Do I Have Anything Interesting to Say?
It’s hard out here for an economist
Kartik Athreya: On Economics Writers
Athreya labels himself a “rank-and-?le PhD economist operating within a central banking system” who has “contributed no earth-shaking ideas to economics and works fundamentally as a worker bee chipping away with known tools at portions of larger problems.”
Athreya wrote that he is aware that his comments might come across as elitist, but he’s not worried about hurting feelings.
“I hope to have alerted you to the giant disconnect that exists between the nuanced discussion that occurs between research economists and the noise (some of it from economists!) that one sees in the web or the op-ed pages of even the very best newspapers of the U.S,” he writes.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips or economic insight to [email protected].
“…giant disconnect that exists between the nuanced discussion that occurs between research economists and the noise…” What an interesting statement. I attempted to read his essay, but it read like a foreign language to me, but then again economics is not my expertise. Maybe that’s the point since even though I don’t understand the language, I at least know that something is being said. Or maybe his point IS just another criticism in the giant pile of criticism we call the Internet. To Mr Athreya, if you don’t want others to try and simplify economics then your nuanced conversations are… Read more »
Athreya is a little frustrated that some with less training than he get more attention. He doesn’t seem to realize that the bloggers he derides are in the entertainment business, And many of those expressing opinions on economic policy are part of a great national conversation. Like a lot of others out there these days, he needs to lighten up a little. Maybe get a hobby.
I really enjoyed this article and particularly liked the comparison of discourse on health issues to the one on economics. You’re right….we typically like to know the person writing about cancer at least has studied it.
Katrina
Having worked with business associations for two decades, I have heard my share of economists (yawn). The best, hands down, is Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trends Research. Alan spoke at the Virginia Council of CEOs annual Retreat in April, and was the top rated speaker of the four who presented. Alan’s approach is not “nuanced”, but is based on the predictable cycles of our economy. A recession happens every ten years or so, that watching the rates of change in indicators that are significant to your business can tell you what to expect, and so on. You can… Read more »
Others have not been as charmed as Ms. Van Huss: James Montier wrote: “He argues that we won’t expect particularly informed discussion on the causes, consequences and treatments for cancer from non-Oncology specialists, so why we would we expect non-specialists to offer any useful debate on economics. However, the analogy is false. Modern medicine is based on scientific principles and follows an evidence based approach. Even then some estimate that the majority of published findings in medical journals are false[4]! Economics starts from a far worse place. It isn’t a science, and often seems more interested in twisting the facts… Read more »