2011-06-12

#@%*!!! Quasi-Monetarist Economics

I was going to single out a very specific "quasi-monetarist" economist active in the blogosphere, but in the interest of remaining civil while still getting my rage on, I'm going to opt out of it.

What I will say is this: "Quasi-monetarist" economics has to be the stupidest, most pathetic "theory" I've ever heard of. The reason it took so long to catch on is because it is a complete wasteland of irrelevant BS.

Its success is owing to the fact that, by definition, "quasi-monetarists" are always parsing things into "nominal expenditures" and "real expenditures." These economists are so good at throwing these terms around and asking seemingly innocent questions that they can easily befuddle an unsuspecting onlooker. The minute one economist tries to make a point, the "quasi-monetarist" will quickly interject a question: Are you talking about real income or nominal income? That's a valid question at times, but this is just a foot in the door. Next comes the wasteland.

The wasteland is the concept of a "nominal expenditure" versus a "real expenditure." Folks, this kind of crap only sounds interesting. In reality, it is not. It is made-up boloney. Mumbo-jumbo. B.S.

To understand why, simply think back to the last time you spent money. Was that a nominal expenditure for you, or a real one?

What? You mean you have no idea how in the hell you would ever manage to only spend money nominally? Welcome to the club. At the individual level, there is no such thing as a "nominal expenditure."

Now, keep in mind that the concept of inflation is a very important one. Inflation has a real impact on our daily lives, and we should think about it more regularly. That's why we already talk about inflation using existing terminology.

The whole idea of "nominal expenditures" is cheap smoke-and-mirrors crap. It's economics for people who are only interested in knowing how to use jargon to sound intelligent. Mark my words, one day "quasi-monetarism" will go the way of the dodo and its participants will be as embarrassed by what they said as they would be of a particularly bad high school yearbook photo.

There is no such thing as a nominal expenditure. People only spend the money that they have. Their behavior cannot be parsed into real vs. nominal. At the individual level, all behavior is real. Quasi-monetarism is a scourge.

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