User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Critical Economic Theory

  1. #1
    Points: 665,303, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 84.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433316
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,554
    Points
    665,303
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,984
    Thanked 80,905x in 54,720 Posts
    Mentioned
    2011 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)

    Critical Economic Theory

    A little tongue-in-cheek economics.

    Critical Economic Theory

    ...An exchange with one of the teachers immediately followed by an 11-hour automobile drive led me to the conclusion that CET (Critical Economic Theory) should replace CRT (Critical Race Theory) in America’s K-12 classrooms.

    Two of the two dozen or so teachers in attendance admitted that they had not realized that trade is a positive sum game, i.e., that everyone can gain and that one person’s gain is not necessarily another’s loss. That breakthrough alone made the trip worth it all, but it was a later exchange with one of those teachers that brought me to the need for CET.

    I remarked that cultural appropriation really isn’t a thing, that no one owns, or could own, general cultural attributes like a musical style or a type of cuisine and that the real value added is in the creation of actual marketable products, so not “rap” but “Hypnotize Me” and not “burgers” but an actual “garbage plate.” Intellectual and physical property rights protect the creators of such products but no law could protect general cultural genres and that even if they could, figuring out who should get paid for products arising from the general genre would soon turn into a quagmire....

    I also pulled some pages from Tyler Cowen’s brilliant 2004 book, Creative Destruction, to note that many iconic cultural productions, like island steel drum music, are actually syncretic, i.e., combinations of different cultures. Cowen also showed how globalization leads to heterogeneity when viewed from the standpoint of individuals....

    In other words, what is sometimes deprecated as cultural appropriation increases the sale of actual marketable products....

    But the teacher in question was having none of my dismissal of cultural appropriation because she “knows” that non-black people make money selling hair care products designed for African-American women. Well it just so happens that over a century ago an African-American woman named Madam C.J. Walker, the daughter of Louisiana slaves, became a millionaire by manufacturing and selling just such products....
    I then pointed out that the real problem, as described in my 2019 AIER book Financial Exclusion, was not with cultural appropriation. It was, and to some extent remains, with barriers to entry; all the institutions, laws, and systems that prevent entrepreneurs from testing their products in the market, and that racial/ethnic/gender and class barriers to entry were especially pernicious and should be rooted out and extirpated ASAP. The teacher seemed to understand that, filling me with hope that maybe progress could be made, not by so-called progressives but by earnest Americans eager to actually help people facing real obstacles to human flourishing....
    You can read about Madam C.J. Walker here: Black Entrepreneur Legend and Haircare Pioneer.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Chris For This Useful Post:

    RMNIXON (08-14-2021)

  3. #2
    Points: 114,212, Level: 82
    Level completed: 19%, Points required for next Level: 2,438
    Overall activity: 64.0%
    Achievements:
    Social50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    RMNIXON's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    30562
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Posts
    30,808
    Points
    114,212
    Level
    82
    Thanks Given
    31,843
    Thanked 30,556x in 17,992 Posts
    Mentioned
    78 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The modern left like all Marxists see economics in terms of haves and have nots, not in productivity and trade values where nearly everyone benefits. If you care to get involved that is. So CET would teach that economics is dominated by White Supremacy Capitalism and needs to be destroyed for redistributive fairness and equity.

    You don't need a lot of intelligence to spout what these people believe.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to RMNIXON For This Useful Post:

    Chris (08-14-2021)

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts