Real Economics vs. Voodoo Economists!

Real economics is in decline the world over - it's rightful position being increasingly taken over by what we will call 'VooDoo' economics. This will have catastrophic consequences. Let me first contrast the two -

Economics is the study of production, distribution & consumption of goods and services. Voodoo however, concerns itself with the study of money. Let us see how this leads people to act differently in some real life situations:

If an entrepreneur produces some goods with minimal consumption of resources and sells it to fellow people, economists will celebrate the entrepreneur for making available these goods (or services) to people economically. Voodoo economists however, rue the 'hoarding' of profits by the entrepreneur.  

Voodoo economists are happy to tax the rich to fund government waste because the rich have so much money that taxing the rich a little bit more doesn't affect their lifestyles much. The real economists are at pains to explain that if government can waste resources without affecting the lifestyles of the rich, then it is being paid by the lifestyles of the poor.

Rising prices of a commodity are a cardinal sin in the eyes of a Voodoo economist that is precipitated by greedy people 'hoarding profits'. It deserves a governmental response of price ceilings or (ideally) collective control of the commodity's production so that it may be made available to people for 'Free'. A real economist realizes that rising prices represent a relative constraint in the availability of said commodity. An appropriate response would therefore be to remove licensing, tariffs and other regulatory barriers to the production and availability of this commodity. 

An economist also realizes that it is the people who are the ultimate participants in an economy. People produce goods & services and it is people who consume goods & services. It is people who pay taxes (as it is them who will be deprived of their consumption of certain goods & services or it is them who will fight foreign wars on government payroll). A voodoo economist however sees private corporations and government as the unit of an economy since they have so much money. Therefore, in voodoo economics - corporations can be taxed or fined. Similarly, it is possible for the government to produce goods and services. And  the practitioners of Voodoo will tell you (most ironically) that when the government acts, it always acts in the interest of the larger public while the private corporations relish the misery of the masses. 

Can you think of any examples yourself? Let us know!

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