I had a run in on Facebook with some crazy people today. First there was a guy upset that Obama lied. Shocking, I know. He then went to state that the country was in trouble in part due to our national debt, the lack of a gold standard, and because our exchange rates are flexible and not fixed. The surprised me, because it is immediately in batshit land. I responded in what I thought was a nice way by saying he was wrong and that if he does some research he will find that things aren't so bad.
He saw that as an insult, so I went on to explain very briefly that deficits during a liquidity trap aren't bad, history shows the gold standard to be very bad, and fixed exchange rates are terrible for an economy. That's when the crazies jump in.
To make a long story short, I was called all kinds of names and told I don't know anything and shouldn't be a teacher. In fact, they said it was because of people like me that we need to do away with tenure, so I would get fired. Oh, and the best part, because I am a liberal.
The problem with all this was that nobody ever refuted a thing I said. They never provided a supporting argument for the gold standard, austerity, or fixed exchange rates. This leads me to believe that they don't come up with their ideas due to logic and reasoning, but due to someone they view to be an authority telling them something (so much for the Enlightenment). I am wondering, would anyone believe in bad economics if they understood basic economics? Even fresh water economists don't want to go back to the gold standard and fixed exchange rates.
The only conclusion I can draw at this time is that ignorance leads people to follow those who sound convincing. Basically, they are following con-men. It makes perfect sense. If you don't understand physics and engineering, you are more likely to believe in a 9/11 truther theory. If you don't understand biology, you are more likely to believe in creationism. If you don't understand economics you are more likely to believe someone on Fox Business channel.
The problem with economics is that kids in high school have no interest in it. It might as well be a Latin class. People don't start getting interested in economics until later in life (maybe late 20's or 30's). By then, their formal schooling is over and they are left to learn it on their own. So who do they turn to? Conservative talk radio and TV. This is probably due to conservatives being the party of business and people confuse business with economics. This is a bad mistake when wanting to learn about macroeconomics. I speak from experience when I say people on Fox Business channel know nothing about macroeconomics. Talk radio can be even worse.
Thus, we are doomed until we can figure out a way to educate the 20 and 30 something crowd on economics, or convince 18 year olds that economics is interesting. If we don't figure out a solution, then these idiots are going to vote in some dumbass as president who will completely wreck the economy.
