Thursday, February 5, 2015

Neo-Fisherianism Spreads

The Turkish President is in a fight with his central bank governor over monetary policy. Possibly President Erdogan came up with this idea on his own, or maybe he's been reading blog posts. In any case, he certainly sounds like a neo-Fisherite.
“They’re simply going to drive one mad. They say they will cut interest rates if inflation falls, this is not a proper understanding; this is the wrong logic because the causality is not one of inflation as reason and rates as outcome. Rates are the reason, inflation is the outcome,” Mr. Erdogan said, reiterating his thesis that is contrary to economic orthodoxy.

14 comments:

  1. IIRC, Ergodan has been saying something like this for about the last 4 years or more. It does sound Neo-Fisherite, but I don't think he's been reading blog posts.

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    1. I was only joking. I'm sure he hasn't been reading blog posts.

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    2. I have been reading this blog religiously (pun intended). Everything I know about monetary policy I owe to Steve.

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    3. Hi Tayyip,

      Pleased to have you on board. You may be confused though. We are scientists, not a religious order.

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    4. Two additional points:

      1. I understand that English is not your first language, so this may be subtle for you, but I'm not sure that fits the definition of "pun."
      2. Religious approaches to economics are filed under "K."

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    5. I am on your side. The pun was not about you. I was the leader of what used to be an Islamic party. You didn't get the joke!

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    6. Maybe it is because I misspelled my name. I am Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey.

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    7. When you started, it had the makings of a good joke. Suppose the President of Turkey showed up as a commenter? What would he say? My advice at this point is: Don't take up comedy. Keep your day job.

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    8. How dare you insult me! You have as much humor as Paul Krugman, but least he has a beard.

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    9. Better quit while you're ahead Tayyip.

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  2. Stephen for crying out loud. Why not just say you got me and move on. The comment was obviously not meant to impugn you as a scientist. The pun is on the religion of the commenter not you.

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    1. Well, that's one of the more curious interactions I've had. I was trying to understand what the joke was. That's my attempt to play along. Got me? Got what? Here's a joke. Duck walks into a bar. Asks the bartender "got any birdseed?" Bartender says no, duck leaves. Duck is back in the bar the next day. Asks the bartender if he has any birdseed. Bartender is beginning to get peeved. Says "No. I told you yesterday, we don't have any birdseed. Why would you think you can find birdseed in a bar?" Duck leaves, but is back in the bar the following day. Asks the bartender, "Got any birdseed." Bartender says: "No. And if you come in here again asking that, I'm going to nail your feet to the floor." Duck leaves, but comes back the next day. Asks the bartender: "Got any nails?"

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  3. Steve, have you thought of going to be his advisor ? Ankara would be a step up from dull old St.Louis. Nice holiday home on the Black Sea

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    1. I actually met the Turkish central bank governor once at a conference. Seemed like nice guy, and gave a nice presentation of what the Turkish central bank was up to. That was 2013, I think. He was into macroprudential policy in a big way, though. I don't think he did a good job of justifying that.

      But, back to the matter at hand. Who would trade the Big Muddy for the Black Sea?

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