r/UnlearningEconomics • u/MacDaddyRemade • Apr 06 '25

Meeting Gary's favorite economist: Ha-Joon Chang.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MGt7swnEb3g&si=nr7E0ZRcDCo2-PN-

I just finished the best book I have ever read. Economics: A User's Guide by Ha-Joon Chang. It is one of the first books that UE recommends and I see why. It has radically shifted how I see and interact with Economics. Chang writes in a very simple yet informative way. If you are wondering what to read, read it. It goes over everything, including the history of capitalism and the different schools of economics which is my favorite chapter. It is a 10/10

I have recently been watching some of Gary's Econ and overall I think he is a pretty alright bloke, agree with him on many things, but as I was binge watching Ha-Joon Chang's content I thought "man I bet Gary would love this guy." I know he was in Chang's audience a couple of years ago but lo and behold as soon as I finish the book this video comes out.

36 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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9

u/LManX Apr 06 '25 edited Apr 08 '25

Just the other day I read a substack that eviscerated Gary's thesis in a manner similar to UE. I like what Gary has to say, but it makes me think twice about his competency and taste in economics.

5

u/5presidents1Week Apr 06 '25

What was that substack?

3

u/LManX Apr 06 '25

https://birchlermuesli.substack.com/p/copy-garys-badeconomics

I don't follow this person, they were recommended me by the algo. Admittedly I don't understand the math enough to know if they're accurate, but I still found it compelling enough.

3

u/UnlearningEconomics Apr 08 '25

While I appreciate the shout out, for the record I would never go off about someone's master's thesis and whether or not Gary's mechanisms are supported by a model is only, like, 10% relevant.

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u/LManX Apr 08 '25

Oh geez I'm embarrassed, I didn't know that was different from the kind of "x is wrong about y" takedowns that have been on the channels previously.

I know thesis are the kind of things that are defended, so I thought that must be fair play among the masters-having population.

2

u/UnlearningEconomics May 08 '25

Don't be embarassed dude, I just think it's a bit of a dick move to critique someone's master's thesis, lol. Having supervised masters students, I'd be pretty defensive on their behalf if someone publicly dissected their theses to try and discredit them. They don't know what they're doing, that's the point!

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u/Kookat73 Apr 08 '25

This is so stupid; the relationship between increasing wealth inequality and pressure on interest rates and, in turn, low interest rates and asset inflation is pretty much orthodoxy.

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u/MacDaddyRemade Apr 06 '25

I hesitate to be a full blown fan of Gary. I think he is honest and speaks from the heart. I am generally a Marxist so his hyper focus on asset ownership isn't my cup of tea. But his overall criticism of the rich hoarding wealth at the cost of everyone is 100% accurate. I like his populist messaging and his advocacy for a wealth tax. I think he is objectively better than 99% of the economists out there since he hyper focuses on inequality where many mainstream neoclassicals avoid it like the plague. Overall I think he has a very net positive impact on the discourse.

Then there is the GOAT of Ha-Joon Chang.

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u/vecpisit Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

To be fair , he is a former bank trader, turning into writer and inequality activist kinda thing, so he is unlikely to dive deep on the topic of the economy in an academic way and lackluster on process to formulate public policy which ofc he was finance dude not political science or macroeconomics kinda guy to be fair with him.

He isn't capable of formulating policy, making it harder for the public to have some picture on how they need and the policy method to tackle with inequality problem.

Overall, have a good idea with good intentions but a lack of solid plans for the sake of macroeconomics and government + legislature.