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Well, it all starts with these 'on aggregate' measures like inflation.

I think there's a question that economists are taught not to ask, which is 'In whose experience?'

Inflation is supposedly an objective measure of - something. But it will be experienced differently on Wall St, by the middle classes, and by a poor person in New Orleans.

Which of these different experiences is considered the most relevant and important 'on aggregate, and why?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Jun 23rd, 2006 at 09:45:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Agreed. If value is subjective, which it obviously is, then most standard economic measures have a huge amount of error in them. An economist would argue that the price system effectively aggregates supply and demand in order to convey value. This is in itself a fantasy as market prices even in those conditions most approximating Walrasin assumptions still come no where near meeting them. Then add the fact that 'vaule' out of necessity changes depending upon who is doing the evaluation....well, you get the picture.  

No raindrop believes itself responsible for the flood that follows.
by Benito (haplo1998 at yahoo) on Fri Jun 23rd, 2006 at 10:40:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I have thought of writing a diary linking the themes of this one (specifically, the implicit bargaining in Kaldor-Hicks) with the pie-cutting problem.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jun 24th, 2006 at 03:51:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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