Educated Points Of View

They say people who can make a living doing what they love are blessed. If you get paid to pen this drivel,"The Perils of Populism," that's a good gig, man. If I were you I'd hold onto it.

I was wondering as I read when you'd roll out one of your profession's favorite terms, visceral. In your vernacular that means: bereft of reason; ill-rational, lack of common sense. When are you people ever going to stop hiding behind semantic covers, get enough testosterone to stand up straight, high water blue jeans or no, and tell the rabble what you really think of them: a hoard of knaves and dolts who spent most of their lives reading public bathroom graffiti instead Ricardo or Samuelson. If your contempt and arrogance were any thicker, sir, one would need a chainsaw to cut it.

But you don't disappoint with this next gem. "Against such emotion it's very difficult," you say, "to introduce studied reflection to the discussion."  One can only marvel at how long it probably took you to come up with that beauty. Concrete?  Abstract? It's a real cutie. And quite obviously it's in the province of only the chosen few.

There are other schools than the ones you note. Two that we know of both begin with the letter S: Streets and Survival, ones we have a nudging feeling you wouldn't excel at. Those are the streets where most of the rabble you and your elitist brethren are so contemptuous of spend most of their existence trying to survive.

It's generous that you grant them your permission. "It's certainly proper and desirable for citizens to question the existing order. And there are certainly policies to aid economic growth and allocate it proceeds equitably," you write. You've nicely set up your straw man here, sir. You're are so subtle. "But we will try to look at things dispassionately." One assumes that "dispassionately," like "studied reflection," is another genetic gift limited to those chosen few. It isn't nerdiness that's a disadvantage to your profession, sir. It's the pseudo-science itself and its pitiful track record. Life teaches many things. One of them is all talk in all breakups ends at some point.

Peddlers come in all sizes, shapes and occupations. Economics is no exception. A better, more accurate title for your piece would've been "Peddling the Perils of Populism." This is just an observation and intended as nothing more. But in case you've yet to notice, the gauntlet in the sand is down. And it's a global gauntlet. Thank whatever powers might be you and your kind are on the other side because it is fruitless to try to introduce studied reflection to the discussion.

advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/20160723-northern-trust-the-perils-of-populism

We publish the link to this article by Carl Tannenbaum of Northern Trust so you can read it for yourself and decided who is out of touch with whom. Northern Trust of Chicago is a firm noted for catering to its wealthy clients, no crime in that, just a fact. But to borrow one of economists' favorite ploys and hedge a bit, there might be some snootiness there.

Speaking of hedges, note Mr.Tannenbaum's last sentence in the article's second paragraph: "But the population's complete detachment from educated points of view could be an unfortunate overcorrection."

Few things in life are given, but here is one: Any time one differs with the educated entrenched, one is completely detached.