What economists fail to understand about economics | Eric Weinstein and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Eric Weinstein is a mathematical physicist and podcaster.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[erlichbachman]

pretty sure the closed loop Eric was talking about is between him and himself.

[xaptronic]

This video should be called "What I failed to understand about what Eric Weinstein said"

[scottwilson]

Eric: GDP and CPI are bad measures of growth and inflation
Any half-decent economist: yah... we know

[armediainstitute]

I try very hard to get into Eric Weinstein but honestly he just doesn't do it for me. The way he constructs his thoughts is more creative than useful. He is saying a lot things but actually meaning very little.

[Freshbott]

This was a bad way of saying single data points aren't enough. I can't get those minutes back.

[carloslope]

Eric's confidence in all fields and a hint of arrogance make me doubt whether his criticisms have merit. Are all economists ignorant to the extent he describes? Not that I can tell though.

[jbelisario]

A “simple” explanation...I thought I was the only idiot who didn’t understand anything he said until I read the comments

[jemal]

"What does Eric really do?" Tim dillon

[Thisaccoun]

"If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough"

[pbaldwin]

Eric is the kid that is still crying that his science project didn’t win so he calls everyone else stupid.

[paulmcgee]

So economic models could be more accurate, why is the egotistical superiority necessary?

[jonjo]

What a doofus. Every economist on the planet understands that price indices poorly capture substitution. That is why every undergrad is taught to remember that they are imprecise just as GDP is imprecise.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to fully capture the full extent of consumer preference and change in taste. As such, we have developed simple models to capture the gyst of what is going on.

Edit: After reading more of his writing on the topic, I think the man is truly mad. He suggests tying COLA more broadly to aggregate utility despite the fact that preference does not follow a simple model. Some people might find their utility is overly weighted towards variety (and hence their utility falls when their basket of goods remains constant, but can seemingly rise even if their basket of goods falls but is entirely substituted), or even scarcity (some people's marginal utility might turn negative in the presence of too many goods - IE they are minimalists). It is not worth this level of complexity in order to develop "field theoretic" which would inevitably evolve into a summation of individual utility functions. Does he propose annual surveys of individual utility? Because that is what it sounds like. Are we expected to map trends in preference across a billion variables per respondent?

This sounds like a total waste of time + money.

[thanosandnobill]

Eric Weinstein is what Socrates used to call a Sophist. Sophists were the people that used difficult words and complicated sentences to intimidate the audience into agreeing but with little meaning or substance in their arguments.

[MrDonquichotte]

Here's a deal: buy Eric Weinstein for what he's worth, and sell him for what he thinks he's worth.

[krazoChrist]

*"Up next: Eric explains what rocket scientists fail to understand about rocket science."*

[hacunjr]

He always throws in a ridiculous, esoteric metaphor which does the opposite of explaining it more simply and efficiently

[youaretheonegod]

If Eric was as smart as he thinks he is he wouldn't generalize so often.

[Gaolii]

A 3 minute conversation with Eric Weinstein: "This guys pretty sharp"
A 10 minute conversation with Eric Weinstein: "Oh, nvm this guy's just full of shit."

[jean-claudefrancoisbaroudd]

I hate this stupid "quote":
_"If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough"_
But this dude is terrible, he's using the language to purposefully confuse his audience into thinking he's making valid points... The "complexity" is just there to hide the pointlessness. And you can see it in Lex's reaction: "Fancy words bruv, very cool, and what's your point ?"

[Johnny-wdtj]

I love how Eric Weinstein doesn't understand economics at all and still speaks about it at length.