Pragmatic CapitalismPosted on 05/21/2015 8:30:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Someone sent me an email Wednesday evening with some details on the Paul Krugman response to James Montier, which I discussed here. I had previously stated that the Krugman response was lacking meat. But it's actually worse than that. It's actually highly misleading and appears intentionally so.
In the post, Dr. Krugman tries to show how much interest rates matter by comparing the Fed Funds Rate with Housing Starts. He shows a chart and declares that there appears to be a strong correlation. Except, as this emailer notes, he appears to have shifted the chart to make it appear as though there is a correlation where there isn't one.
Here's the Krugman chart:
Pragmatic Capitalism
And here's the version that would have originally shown up when the data is pulled from FRED:
Pragmatic Capitalism
See what was done there? The period in the early 1960's was removed, and so was the period from 2000 on. In other words, out of a 55-year time period, Dr. Krugman decided to remove 20 years' worth of data. For those keeping track, that's removing almost 40% of an entire data set just because the data didn't fit the narrative. And when you add those years back you get a result that shows a very weak correlation:
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Humh. I wonder if Krugman will lose his job for manipulating/lying?? YEAH, RIGHT!
Not lose his job, but maybe a promotion or a nobel prize
No surprise. His Nobel Prize was as earned and deserved as the kenyan’s. The Nobel has lost credibility in most of the areas in which it is awarded. He is another perfect example of rewarding mediocrity and academic malfeasance for political agendas.
They gave O a Nobel prize for breathing. Do you really imagine the award committee has any standards whatsoever?
for libtards, political correctness and fantasy trumps honesty and reality
Krugman is certainly qualified to be a climate ‘scientist’.
If true, his Ph.D should be stripped as should his Nobel. Malfeasance is rife within the liberal mindset and things such as this should be published in peer publications.
they have liberal standards, so, in other words, no, they have no standards.
As a member of the leftwing MSM, manipulating and lying IS his job.
Sure, the data aren’t quite right, but what about his feelings?
It still looks pretty highly correlated to me. Plus it makes sense. People can afford to buy housing when rates are low. They can’t when rates are high.
It’s why Benjamin Franklin argued that we should keep interest rates low for land purchases so that people could afford to buy their own land and develop the country.
The only difference is that Typhoid Mary was merely ignorant, not maliciously spreading disease.
Krugman is not merely mediocre, he's a lying sack of $hi+.
they have liberal standards, so, in other words, no, they have no standards.
++++
They actually do have standards or at least Principles.
What passes for The Truth for jerk libs like Freidman is The End Justifies The Means Principle. You ask: Does this action increase our progress toward a Beautiful Marxist Future? If so, no lie is prohibited.
I have known Krugman for decades (NOT as a friend, but as a frequent unpleasant acquaintance). He is a disgusting person who tends to draw his conclusions first and then look for supporting evidence, dismissing conservative ideas without thought. However, I have never thought of him as the type to actually manipulate data. I didn’t think someone as gross and ideological as Dr. K. could ever disappoint me, but he finally managed.
The correlation appears to have completely disappeared about 8 years ago. That’s why Krugman pulled that data from his graphic.
Krugman must be hanging out with Michael Mann and the other warmist data-fudgers.
Well that would correspond with the 2008 fiscal crisis and a tightening of mortgage lending practices.
That combined with a weak or non-existent recovery due to never fixing the import problem that has put so many people out of work doesn't surprise me.
Doesn't matter how low interest rates go. People without jobs can't take advantage of them.
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