What movie/documentary can I watch to help me understand the current situation of US and/or world economics?

Waiting for Superman.

This film by economist Richard Reich could give you a good start. It is not unbiased but I doubt you will find any that are.

@janbb Beat me to it. That’s what I planned to recommend.

There is no such thing as unbiased economics.

Wall Street economists will tell you whatever information is good for buying/selling securities.

Government economists will tell you information that convinces you that their policies are helping improve the economy.

University economists have political agendas.

Industry economists will tell you information that convinces you their products are the solution to every problem.

I thought there was a lot of good info about the financial meltdown of 2008 in Too Big to Fail.

Someone explain more to me the idea of everything being bias, it intrigues me and would like to know more.

Here link

@LDRSHIP Excellent question. Pay no attention to those who say that. They’re only saying so because they are biased.

Come on. Are we supposed to disregard all the statistical tools economics provides because we have made an a priori decision all economics is biased? Wouldn’t it make more sense to look for potential conflicts of interest, see if the study’s author/s dealt fairly with the data available, look for cherry-picking of data, and accept only those things that pass a rigorous smell test?

@ETpro Funny you made think after I read that, just by the reviews – Not all were bad, some even explained the logic behind the documentary. That being said it impacted me to the point where I decided it must not be worth watching.

But who knows it could have valid points and information. That is in itself biased in ways is it not?

I am probably reading too deep into these things…

@LDRSHIP With the Internet, and with a modicum of intelligence and resolve, it is easy to check out the references and see if a economist is resorting to solid science or spin. In my experience, the real message of those who claim all scientific approaches are biased is to convince you they are the sole arbiters of truth and everyone else on Earth is lying for various self-serving reasons. When you examine such claims, you generally find that something close to the exact opposite it the truth.

Ask yourself a simple question, @LDRSHIP

Why aren’t economists rich?

If they can explain the intricacies of economies and worldwide markets, why the hell can’t they make a lousy million dollars? They’re such brilliant scientists, no? The reason is because their entire profession deals heavily with the theoretical studies, rather than the practical ones. They oversimplify variables in order to make their models work. In academia, this works out great, but not in the real world.

The only money these so called economists make is from their salaries or writing a bunch of bullshit in their own books and then selling it on amazon to ignoramuses. Maybe even make a short youtube clip for good publicity.

There are only a handful of economists that actually followed their own forecasting and made a killing. Some of them ended up losing it later on in life.

I would advise you to use the existentialist approach for an explanation rather than seeking guidance from charlatans, but if you’re dead set on looking for an explanation from others, you might as well choose someone who actually applies and is successful as a result from the bullshit that come out of his or her mouth.

@tomathon Most economists are in the top 1%. Quite a few number among the wealthiest among us.

Quite a few number among the wealthiest among us.

And that is why I wrote there are only a handful of economists that actually followed their own forecasting and made a killing.

Most economists are in the top 1

Bullshit. Evidence?

Making millions by selling theoretical books on amazon does not deem them worthy of being called brilliant scientists. I want to see some evidence of your claim that most economists making their money by applying their forecasting into practice.

@tomathon Did you call bullshit before you even bothered to check? There’s this but it just deals with the grunts. A significant number of CFOs, Hedge Fund Managers and the like are economists because they have a grasp of the statistical tools need for analysis of markets. They pull down incomes that are off that bell curve. Top paid hedge fund managers earn 1 to 4 billion per year in bonus alone.

@ETpro

You know, this isn’t the first time and it probably won’t be the last, but you don’t seem to actually read what anyone writes here which makes it very difficult to communicate with you. Do me a favor and never quote my name again in the future.

If you would have actually read what I wrote, you would not have posted me a link to salaries, which clearly proves my original point which was The only money these so called economists make is from their salaries or writing a bunch of bullshit in their own books and then selling it on amazon to ignoramuses. Maybe even make a short youtube clip for good publicity.

or this

there are only a handful of economists that actually followed their own forecasting and made a killing.

I’m going to have to permanently ignore you now.

@tomathon You’re not the boss here. I will quote your name when I’m responding to your posts, because you aren’t the only person here, and others may have no clue what I’m replying to if I do not indicate whose post I am addressing. If you can’t handle that, stay out of threads I’m in.

Salaries were the only readily available stat. I mentioned the preponderance of fund managers. The same would go for successful investors. Warren Buffet happens to have a Masters of Science in Economics. He seems to have done pretty well with it. There are only a handful of ANY kind of people who followed their own forecasting and made a killing, so that comment is irrelevant.

You can quote my name all you want and it is true that I cannot stop you, but I can and will ignore you from now on.

@tomathon I’m not exactly disappointed.