Tuesday, September 09, 2014

How dare Parkinson defend himself!

The print version of Catallaxy (The Australian) is full of indignation that Martin Parkinson has defended the response of the Rudd/Swan government to the GFC (they, after all, were following his Department's advice which he has fully endorsed), after current cigar smoking Finance Minister Cormann was out launching some attack on Parkinson's policy from a little known, IPA aligned, economist from that power house of economics, Griffith University.

Did you see how much Groucho Ergas went on about this yesterday?  Is he paid by the word?  Today it's the turn of the least favourite economist in the land for giving key note addresses at what is meant to be a celebratory dinner, Judith "You're all Lazy Idiots!" Sloan.

I thought these economists who are outraged at Parkinson being so "political" might have asked themselves the question - who started this in the first place?   Parkinson is leaving his job early because of the sway of the cranky and deluded IPA/Boltardian Right - of which Sloan, Ergas and Davdison are the leading lights (lights with about the same utility as glow in the dark dinosaurs) - because he believes in climate change and has the belief shared by nearly every other economist not of the Catallaxy brand that Australia's successful passage through the GFC probably was in some significant part due to the stimulus policy.

Furthermore, Cormann is not content to wait til Parkinson leaves to be seen endorsing Makin's attack on his views, he's doing it now.

The politicisation of the matter is all of the Right's doing.


Update:  by the way, the IPA's Chris Berg is widely regarded as the most affable of the Institute's talking heads that still get given a ridiculous amount of time on the ABC to sprout their one eyed views.   But his entry into the commentary on the politics and economics of the GFC stimulus last week I think shows him up as just another Right wing economic lightweight who has drunk the IPA kool aid.  [Update:  see how he wasn't taking any strong position on this only 12 months ago?]

It also seems to me that he never talks about climate change.  The most he has said (that I recall) is (my paraphrase) that if you have to have a policy to tackle it, a carbon tax is the way to do it.   (Even Sinclair Davidson has said that in the past I think.)

But anyone who works for the IPA is forever tainted by the fact they make their money from an institute supported by at least one prominent billionaire miner which pays people to ridicule climate science and all policy directed towards reducing CO2.   Berg gets too easy a ride for appearing nice (certainly, he doesn't come across as an aggressive and unpleasant fellow like Roskam)  but he should be shamed for working for the IPA at all.   

Update 2:   the blogging head of the Insane Clown Posse that is Catallaxy (I'm trying out for a sort of Bernard Keane degree of sarcasm today)   Sinclair Davidson joins in the criticism of Parkinson, claiming that Makin's critique is obviously right, and again confirming that the government should be completely political in immediate sackings of public servant heads.

Is all of this angst because Judith isn't getting Parkinson's job?  (Reference to likely joke rumour that I don't believe.)

10 comments:

nottrampis said...

Makin is an idiot. He said at the time we should have relied on net exports. As Treasury pointed out net exports were positive merely because exports fell fell less than imports.

It helps you you actually read the ABS statistics!

Anonymous said...

"The politicisation of the matter is all of the Right's doing." LOL. The self-awareness is strong, Steve.

nottrampis said...

The stimulus made the economy worse?

Yeah that is why Davidson's prediction of two successive negative quarters of growth proved to be incorrect.

That is why we got not one but two spikes in retail trade turnover between December and March.

Makin's analysis is pretty poor not that I was expecting anything different.

Anonymous said...

"Makin is an idiot"
whereas you are a veritable brains trust, right, Homes?

Jason

nottrampis said...

He is still saying it Jason,

Say no more.
He cannot even read basic ABS statistics. No wonder Sinclair likes him. He does that all the time.

Steve said...

Parkinson's response to Makin reads very well as an example of cool economic reasoning.

Sinclair's probably still worried about stagflation, perhaps gee'd on by some of the talks given at the Secret Squirrel group know as Mont Perelin. (Did Moran break the rules by having a post at Catallaxy about some of the discussion there? I have seen precisely on news article about the meeting, with the headline:

"Top Economist Warns of the Welfare State, the Biggest Threat to Prosperity".

Ha.)

Steve said...

...one news article...

nottrampis said...

yep Treasury demolished Makin's analysis.
wow Ken Henry some time ago before the Senate Committee commented about the Mundell -Fleming hypothesis and the assumptions behind it and why it did not apply during the GFC.
our Mate Enry got 'confused' on that as well. don't these people even read textbooks?
I see tony can't read graphs either. He thinks a depreciation is an appreciation.

anon said...

Paxton

Shut up. I know you're trying to reach higher highs for the stupid... But you've reached maximum warp speed and like the speed of light there's no more you can do.

nottrampis said...

wow,
what a contribution. That is right up there with Henry, Sinclair, Judy and of course Tony.

Keep it up JC. That is a terrific intellect you have. what arguments.