Political scientists caused World War II
I keep being told that economists caused the financial crisis. Sometimes I get blamed as well, but I usually have the excuse that I was in New Zealand when the housing market started to fall apart in the US.
As a result, I’ve been trying to think of similar statements. A discipline that aims to describe the economy, and the interaction of individuals given scarce resources, is being blamed for “causing” a financial crisis – one which the vast majority of economists had nothing to do with, and no money involved with.
So I though we could blame political scientists for WWII. After all, they analyse political systems, and different nation states with different political systems did end up fight WWII.
Have you guys got any other ideas? I was also thinking:
- Seismologists cause earthquakes
- Botanists cause erosion
- Physicists cause black holes
TV watchers cause Jersey Shore.
I think Matt’s trying to dismiss the idea, not reinforce it.
Hayek & Mises beat you one this — both of them effectively blame the German Socialist of the Chair for the WWII.
That must be why Italian seismologists are being sent to prison. The earthquake they caused was terrible.
There’s different kinds of responsibility, though. Dermatologists don’t cause skin cancer, but they would be culpable if they knew, but failed to inform people, that too much sunbathing increases the probability of getting it, or failed to help pharmaceutical companies to develop sunglop. Whose job was it to advise policymakers of the likely consequences of unsustainable pressures building up and suggest actions they could take to avoid them? Or weren’t there any?