‘Economists Say’ a Lot of Things. Many of Them Are Wrong: New at Reason

Appeals to what ‘economists say’ is used to coat liberal policy positions with a veneer of scientific certitude.

David Harsanyi writes:

“A wave of optimism has swept over American business leaders, and it is beginning to translate into the sort of investment in new plants, equipment and factory upgrades that bolsters economic growth, spurs job creation—and may finally raise wages significantly,” opens a recent New York Times article surveying the state of the American economy.

One imagines that readers of the esteemed paper were surprised to run across such a rosy assessment after having been bombarded with news of a homicidal Republican tax plan for so many weeks. But not to worry! Over the next few thousand words, the authors do their best to assure readers that neither deregulation nor tax cuts are really behind this new economic activity—even if business leaders keep telling them otherwise.

For example, they claim that “There is little historical evidence tying regulation levels to growth.” A few paragraphs later, we again learn that “The evidence is weak that regulation actually reduces economic activity or that deregulation stimulates it.”

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