Macho Economics

Dreaming great dreams helps me overcome an abusive childhood. I’ve always been curious. And overly sensitive to the feelings of others, even though I can’t show feelings very well. And I’m desperate to help others, but have an invisible voice.

You’re constantly connected, yet alone. You consume, and are also consumed. You know money is important; and evil. You believe society must be fair and care for everyone, or it benefits no one.

The alarms of MeToo woke me from a deep sleep, a sleep of ignorance. Then I also heard the alarms of Black Lives Matter, and LGTBQ+ Pride. I now see how some women continue to be insulted, slighted, suppressed, even abused. Most women. Pretty much every woman. I still believe that, with everyone’s help, we can make a better future. Still, hatred is everywhere. As a fighter, I choose to fight that hatred. And I could use your help.

MeToo exists inside the ivory silos of economics. Here, pale old men continue dominating women using soft power and institutional bias. Women are a fraction of the profession. Meaning the’re excluded from explosive life-changing prizes. Barabasi [1] pointed this out in 2018, and no one said anything.

The reasons are simple, and subtle. Barabasi found that women prefer collaboration. Men prefer isolation. Women are honest about what they know, and don’t know. Men exude bold confidence, even when wrong. The result is that women are not evaluated based on science, or insight. They are evaluated based on culture and psychology. This means that, fundamentally, Economics is not science, but art. Without rigor, there can be no learning. And Science is learning at its best.

What can you do? If you know an economist, demand definitions you understand, and can measure. Keep score of predictions. Prediction is proof of understanding. Anyone who resists keeping score is hiding something.

Have fun at the same time. Many love gambling; so start a betting pool for economists. A fun-filled way to hold their feet to the fires of publicity.

Yes, you can make a difference. Demand your teachers follow their own rules of rigor, logic, clarity, and measurability. Challenge their predictions. Ignore the Dow. Scoff at optimizing stakeholder values. Without rigor you learn nothing.

If I can dream, then so can you.
You are the future.
What you do today changes tomorrow.
All people, in all their diverse glory, need your help.
Remember the children.
I’m thinking of you.

[1] Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo; “Formula, the universal laws of success.” Book published in 2018, see pp 213-4 for observations about women in economics.

Canary in a Coal Mine 4

This series was about a little bird that saved coal miners from dying, saved people from being watched by authorities, and someday might save women from predators.

Yesterday I thanked all the women who have recently come forward about powerful men that have taken advantage of them.

Those who have the strength and resources to fight these monsters, I salute you.

For those who are truly weak, truly at risk, and without any resources at all, I wish to suggest a bit of technology that *might* help.  This is where our knowledge of behavior comes in handy.  We can learn from the canary that died in the mine and the canary that watches for government warrants.

We also see the number of women who have come forward against monsters in their midst, and knowing human nature, understand that these are but a small fraction of the total number of women those monsters preyed upon.

Consider this.  Give each young woman a canary as a gift.  She carries it on her phone.  If she’s too young or poor for a phone, let the canary live in a protected place that someone else cares for, on another phone for example, or a school computer.

Let that young woman (for she will surely be young) feed that canary regularly.  She will feed it with her love, her trust, and with assurances that she has not met any monsters.

Should she not feed that canary, it will die.  And those of us who care about her will notice.

We are not asking her for any details that will put her at risk.  Those are unimportant.  What is critical is that we know.  Once we know, we can start the process of hunting out that monster.  If we can do it without her involvement, so much the better.  If it requires her help, we can help her be strong.

But all of this must start somewhere.  Those women who have come out against today’s monsters have taken the next step.

I humbly suggest that this new “Confidence Canary” be another step.  Let every young woman be so equipped.  Let her know that she is never alone.

Thank you for reading.

 

Canary in a Coal Mine 3

This series is about how a little bird has saved lots of coal miners from a lack of air, and can even save people from being watched by a government that wants to know everything.

Today’s post is also going to be about a canary, but first it’s necessary to salute all the women who have recently come forward about powerful men that have taken advantage of them.

As a man, I salute all of you for standing up to these scum.

A long time ago women were stolen as prizes, sold to the highest bidder and treated like slaves.  In fact, it’s been so long that doing any of those things today are crimes.

If you are a woman who has had such a crime committed against you, I urge you to say something, do something, even hit something if necessary.  Letting these creeps go free and unscathed only means that they will do it again.  I don’t care if he’s a film mogul.  I don’t care if he’s an orange president.

Take them down.  You are woman.  I don’t know a tougher adjective than that.

You want backup?  There’s lots of guys like me waiting in the wings.  Trust me, I know.  Guys talk guy talk.  I’ve seen the guys who think they are above the moral code, and I stay away from them.  I also know the guys who would go to bat for a woman who wants extra muscle.

So, again, to all of you who have stood your ground and suffer the public attention such admissions attract, thank you.  Thank you for your courage, your work to make this a better world, your work to take down a scum bag, and your work to make this a better place for our daughters.

For my part, I would like to contribute some small idea that may help more women tomorrow.  Literally, tomorrow.  Stay tuned.