this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Most of the time when people say they have an unpopular opinion, it turns out it's actually pretty popular.

Do you have some that's really unpopular and most likely will get you downvoted?

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[โ€“] alvvayson@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

While that is true, it also applies to libertarian capitalists.

Most people don't understand economics. Because economics isn't that sexy to be honest.

And it doesn't help that a lot of the popular economists that one encounters in the mainstream (like Krugman,.Friedman or Mankiw) absolutely and actively engage in disinformation (which they consider education) in the service of their own political biases.

I think Economics Explained is one of the better YouTube channel brining mostly unbiased economics to a mainstream audience.

[โ€“] gowan@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think you need to clarify what you mean by libertarian capitalists as their delusionary states are a sliding scale. The AnCap is even less realistic than any Marxist and much more likely to be motivated by shitty behavior (Marxists might not be correct about everything but their hearts are in a good place), whereas the neoliberal is likely confused about how the impacts of free trade can harm the local working classes and might not be as beneficial as classic economics suggests.

Krugman, Mankiew et al are often writing opinion pieces and those should be seen as such.

I don't think economics should be discussed in any format other than print as it is too hard to check the work on a video.

[โ€“] alvvayson@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you think Economics should only be discussed in print, you might as well buy an Ivory tower and lock yourself up there.

Economics affects people directly through economic policy, so unlike say anthropology or linguistics, people will have strong public opinions and debates on economics.

[โ€“] gowan@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Alternatively you could just read the whole sentence I wrote.

[โ€“] gowan@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's vastly less common than uneducated Marxists. The right-libertarians just tend to be idealistic and/or super racist.