tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post8950058369937159220..comments2023-10-20T10:46:21.208+01:00Comments on Knowing and Making: Ben behaving oddlyLeigh Caldwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16150868700502562500noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-9070528286733761652011-01-18T15:38:08.475+00:002011-01-18T15:38:08.475+00:00Actually I disagree entirely with Mike. If you ar...Actually I disagree entirely with Mike. If you are 'no one' then fine, you can go ahead and tweet whatever you want. But the power of the popular followed tweet should not be underplayed as recently illustrated by the rapper 50 cent and his stock purchasing endorsement.<br /><br />For better or for worse, public figures, speaking in public forums <b>do</b> need to be careful of exactly Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-171566040372236172011-01-16T08:02:00.861+00:002011-01-16T08:02:00.861+00:00What's the difference between this and a homeo...What's the difference between this and a homeopath who doesn't need evidence because he "just believes" that his medicines work? Not much.<br /><br />No, quite a bit.<br /><br />The important thing to remember is this is a TWITTER post. Twitter is a place for rapid off the cuff sharing of your thoughts. It is not the place for you to publish your PhD. Sometimes people will Mike Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17669866892079417316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-80950178770860883332011-01-15T00:07:49.317+00:002011-01-15T00:07:49.317+00:00Ben may have been thinking "my inflation rate...Ben may have been thinking "my inflation rate isn't 3%" but thats certainly not what he said so Leigh's interpretation seems reasonable to me. And I thought his (BG) response was churlish. One cannot expect doctors to be as economically literate as economists for the same reason that the latter are not as medically literate as the former. <br />Even an economist or a Kevin Dennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891633553910348880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-84544269663402045752011-01-14T10:10:13.169+00:002011-01-14T10:10:13.169+00:00I keep flip-flopping on this.
On the one hand, I ...I keep flip-flopping on this.<br /><br />On the one hand, I do think your tweet was possibly slightly provocative.<br /><br />After all, he was clearly referring to inflation in the context of his shopping, and saying that his experience differed from the published index is hard to argue with. "Inflation" here is not the same as "CPI", "RPI" or whatever metric we aretwistedByKnaveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678240461662823816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-6862642631645895282011-01-14T08:42:25.953+00:002011-01-14T08:42:25.953+00:00I too respect and admire Dr Goldacre, read him eve...I too respect and admire Dr Goldacre, read him every week etc, but Leigh's clearly right here. A simple substitution in the original tweet to "don't think my inflation rate..." would have made everything clear.<br />But if you say "I don't believe the inflation rate..." you're clearly questioning THE inflation rate, which, as Ben points out, all economists knowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-53673201479846666762011-01-14T00:19:49.278+00:002011-01-14T00:19:49.278+00:00Thanks for the comment, and apologies if the post ...Thanks for the comment, and apologies if the post came across like an attack - it wasn't meant that way.<br /><br />Of course I agree that it's fine to cite personal experiences. I must have interpreted the comment "I just don't believe the inflation rate is 3%" differently than the way you intended it.<br /><br />If I have a more substantive point, it's that economic Leigh Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16150868700502562500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658874470833994309.post-25780345149725429282011-01-14T00:02:25.183+00:002011-01-14T00:02:25.183+00:00this is dumb, and it's clear - depressingly - ...this is dumb, and it's clear - depressingly - that you misunderstand much of what i've written and said over the years. <br /><br />it's absolutely fine to say "i reckon", to give a personal view, and describe personal anecdata, as long as it's clearly referenced as such. which is what i did. i also linked an excellent tool from xtophercook at the FT from ONS that you bengoldacrehttp://www.badscience.netnoreply@blogger.com