Vox is a never-ending fountain of ignorance. Like this piece about four ‘laws’ of economics that are simply wrong. Some of these claims are indeed wrong, but it’s also wrong to claim that economists make them.
Let’s look at each one.
1) Going below the natural rate of unemployment could spark an inflationary spiral.
I have no idea how the writer could think this is an “iron law” (his term) yet includes the words “could spark.” How is that a law at all?
2) Everybody wins with globalization.
No, economists don’t claim this. Globalization is a win, but there are transitional pains and reallocations of resources. Jobs in inefficient industries go away, jobs are created where labor is more valuable.
3) Deep budget deficits will crowd out private investment.
Another strange misrepresentation. Why would anyone think budget deficits crowd out private investment? It’s not the deficit doing this, but government investments--whether or not financed by budget deficits.
4) A higher minimum wage will only hurt workers.
Of course the author refers to the one study that found a case where this appears to not have happened. Yet it’s still a misunderstanding, because minimum wage laws (set above the market wage) cause fewer jobs than there otherwise would have been. It doesn’t mean people will be laid off en masse, only that jobs aren’t created in such numbers as would otherwise have happened. You have to be a progressive to not see this. And then, of course, you will refer to (widely criticized) study by Alan Krueger as though there are not hundreds, if not thousands, studies showing exactly what theory tells us: that forcing employers to pay workers more than they contribute to the bottom line means those workers won’t get the jobs. (If this logic seems odd, it’s because you’re not thinking logically.)
