halad

Agree with you that society as a whole would make better decisions with PR. And at least policy would be more representative and lead to less resentment. The 2019 GE would have resulted in Tory minority, avoiding socialism and putting a dampener on a Hard Brexit.

My description of the unwashed masses applies to plenty of highly educated people too.

To the list, I would also add that people don’t seem to look at root causes of problems. This can be seen very clearly in the dysfunctional housing market. High rents are the fault of greedy landlords. As if landlords can just choose the price irrespective of the market! And a common objection to building more housing is that it wouldn’t be affordable. Using that logic, there would have been no point in planting potatoes during the Irish potato famine because they would be too expensive.

Looking at politics in the UK on both sides of the political spectrum it is very clear that the public education system here is completely failing.

In the general population there appears to be very little critical thinking, ability to regulate emotions, cost benefit analysis, consideration of opportunity cost, probabilistic thinking, nor even a rudimentary understanding of the scientific method, political and legal system.

This article has entertainment value only.

Being an economic liberal, I always thought that this was one of the main advantages of the EU. Setup shop in one country and sell to the whole single market while encouraging beneficial tax competition. I do oppose special deals for specific companies though. Ireland, please stand up to the Brussels cartel!

Agreed, the article itself reads almost like a piece of satire.

Exactly! You can substitute Bitcoins in that text for gold, Swiss Franc or even Brazilian Real. What a ridiculous pseudo-criticism by Krugman.

Perhaps Econ 101 is escaping me, but the idea of deflation being dangerous is massively overstated. First of all falling prices mean a higher standard of living for everyone in the economy. Second, nobody is going to indefinitely put off purchases due to a decreasing price level. Time is a factor in demand, and you require food today, fuel tomorrow and a new laptop before 2020 would be handy. Even if the price of the 2020 Macbook Pro/Air equivalent has fallen to 100 USD.

The financial system appears to be an instrument of theft. Regardless of what percentages of their incomes bankers invest and consume, this doesn't change the fact that there is an ongoing and significant transfer of wealth from the many to the few. A transfer that defies market outcomes because over the long terms banks only make losses. Rolling Stone once portrayed a major investment bank as a giant "Vampire Squid". Maybe they were onto something.