tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post4139625285424899667..comments2024-03-28T04:29:22.717+00:00Comments on mainly macro: Mediamacro is in rude health, and is also indicative of a deeper failureMainly Macrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-66082003847140166742018-11-08T19:36:00.424+00:002018-11-08T19:36:00.424+00:00What I don't understand about the household an...What I don't understand about the household analogy is that people who use the comparison seem to assume that households don't have access to credit at all.J. Edgar Mihelichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08735224229199089531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-27665504608511064022018-11-03T15:55:44.797+00:002018-11-03T15:55:44.797+00:00The Bias in the media should not come as a shock, ...The Bias in the media should not come as a shock, as the 1% own it.<br /><br />The BBC is has now been branded the Bullshit broadcasting corporation but that is what it is. Sorry to have to repeat that, but that cuts through all the Hyperbole expressed in the media at large.<br /><br />Question time has for as long as I can remember packed it's audiences with as many right wingers as they possibly could, their panels usually outnumber left wing politician by 3 to 1, so am I surprised that the right wing bias prevails in the mass media, of course not.<br /><br />On a personal note, I voted for Tony Blair as leader of the Labour Party back then, because I thought he was more intelligent than he actually was, I thought he was cleverly publicly using Neo-Liberal language as the Tories always do, but then apply macroeconomic policies in contrast to the rhetoric. Sadly he was not that bright, (meaning he actually meant what he said). Indeed after six months in office there was a BBC programme that did an autobiography of him and his career at that time. Interestingly his so called student friends were scathing about him, saying that he didn't have a political idea in his head, which I really thought - was them just being nasty at the time, only later to discover they were right on the money. <br /><br />As his premiership progressed, it became more and more alarming as things were not progressing, but regressing, and I personally found it confusing because I couldn't understand why a Labour Prime Minister would carry out Thatcherite policies. I constantly wondered whether there was in fact something I did not know about that was driving all of this. Clearly after the crash and I did my own investigations and certain academics started to provide statistical information through social media the picture became as clear as day. The whole history of Neo-Liberalism also became writ large, the connections between Liam Fox the Atlantic Bridge and the American Legislative and exchange Council made it abundantly clear where the direction of travel was coming from.<br /><br />We have been duped as a nation, and most still don't know the reasons why, Europe has been the latest saga that has sidetracked people - deliberately steering them away from the real ongoing programme of dismantling the state.<br /><br />The rise of fascism is no coincidence, and any sane person can understand what needs to be done to reverse it, it took a socialist government to rebuild this country after the war, and it has taken Neo-Liberal politicians to do more damage to this country than Hitler ever did.<br /><br />It really is up to every decent person in this country to recognise the dangers and get solidly behind Jeremy Corbyn. We need only look at the slaughter of our badger population and Fracking to understand the insane mental state driving this Tory Party. Neo-Liberal Right wing Labour Politicians supporting the Tories are also culpable for crashing the economy and transferring wealth and power to the corporate sector.<br /><br />Mervyn Hydehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10509054505553883594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-8590582558483453262018-11-03T11:52:22.288+00:002018-11-03T11:52:22.288+00:00Hi! I have been reading your blog for a really lon...Hi! I have been reading your blog for a really long time now and I'm applying to study PPE this year as a degree. I was wondering as to why you never considered being a journalist yourself to be apart of the process which would stop the media from skewing people's ideas of how fiscal policy works. I understand you're writing books, but I wonder whether this would be relatively more effective compared to being an actual journalist. Nonetheless, I really like what you do and I think you're doing great regardless of the position you are in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-56352301152294831552018-11-03T08:05:39.232+00:002018-11-03T08:05:39.232+00:00If the problems are that political journalists don...If the problems are that political journalists don't understand economics, voters don't understand economics and press bias distorts the message anyway, I'm not sure that treating evidenced issues like science will help. Could UK Labour offer economics training for political journalists? In fact, how about some economics training for members? We have over half a million members who could be useful advocates if there was sufficient understanding. Member training is all about technocratic stuff like how to use the canvassing software. We don't even have a national political education officer. It seems remarkable to me that a political party should not have a lead officer for political education. Deborahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03143442148342912554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-65599736795460640462018-11-03T07:45:21.313+00:002018-11-03T07:45:21.313+00:00As you say, countering this message is so difficul...As you say, countering this message is so difficult, because it is so prevalent. How do we do it? We need short, sharp messages. I know many Labour activists who are uncomfortable making the argument, even though they have heard it and understand it. For many voters the household analogy is just common sense, and they fear Labour will just overspend. This, to me, is probably the most important, and difficult, battle Labour has to fight, and win.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374814029788244759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-19205880126676840922018-11-03T06:42:20.068+00:002018-11-03T06:42:20.068+00:00Hi Simon. I feel this is an important subject, but...Hi Simon. I feel this is an important subject, but I wonder about the level of economic understanding among British political journalists. Obviously most are not economists and nor am I. As you say, basic Keynesianism will feature in any first year, or indeed 'A' level textbook. It may be slightly counterintuitive to the layman, but it is not difficult and it is well grounded in terms of evidence. Surely a high proportion of our political journalists will have been taught this at some stage of their career, even if they are not economists? It would be fairly easy to find out. If I'm right, then there are cultural and intellectual problems in that profession that run deeper. <br /><br />Thanks for the blog, and the important work in this area.<br /><br />Andrew MulhollandAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01372978199866508268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-58596279595857327022018-11-02T11:58:55.503+00:002018-11-02T11:58:55.503+00:00I initially read the last sentence as:
We need to...I initially read the last sentence as:<br /><br />We need to move away from giving priority to Westminster political gossip, and instead give political balance priority over facts and evidence.<br /><br />Presumably you don't mean this; it's the facts and evidence that should get priority. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-3387866016797965522018-11-02T11:35:21.258+00:002018-11-02T11:35:21.258+00:00This is excellent. I think often of the lesson fro...This is excellent. I think often of the lesson from George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant. From 2010 I have been disappointed how so many Labour MPs have kept the debate on the deficit elephant and the mess left by labour.Robert Dysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05512326175916762262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-45818868069816684652018-11-02T11:15:46.214+00:002018-11-02T11:15:46.214+00:00Simon, I love this blog, although I don't alwa...Simon, I love this blog, although I don't always understand the more technical articles.<br /><br />As you say, the mediamacro view is so pervasive partly because it is simple to understand, even if it is wrong. Could you help us progressives by presenting some simple homespun analogies for your ideas? Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05044822526641597453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-9356517416899133622018-11-02T10:34:32.372+00:002018-11-02T10:34:32.372+00:00Of course you are right here but most people are n...Of course you are right here but most people are not interested in economics and have no knowledge of even the basics and, as you rightly say, the MSM are hopeless in explaining. It may be that the best course is to adopt Keynes's approach when he said that the General Theory was not addressed to the layman but to policy makers as these were the people that mattered.Robert Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03593742130088640939noreply@blogger.com