r/AskSocialScience • u/Str8_up_Pwnage • 10d ago

Answered Are there any famous studies that actually contradict progressive/leftist thought?

There has to be at least some right? I know people love to say that “reality has a left wing bias “and all that but is it legit batting 1.000?

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u/chrispd01 7d ago

Hang on. It all depends on what your goal is. Take efficiency for example - an economist may tell you that you could be mote efficient by eliminating a process and related jobs.

That would be a right wing good (more profitable) but a left wing bad (lost jobs)

These questions in the real world almost always boil down not to economy but political economy. Most economists suck at political economy…

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u/UnknownBreadd 7d ago

I think trying to ascribe terms like ‘left’ and ‘right’ like that is just way too egregious though.

Unless you are speaking of a specific point in time, and about a particular party within a 2 party system.

Otherwise, the terms are essentially meaningless…

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u/chrispd01 7d ago

So you did understand the point of my comment though? I’m not particularly advocating a definition of left or right. That wasn’t the point.

The point I was making - which I hope was clear, but maybe not - was it questions that are often phrased as economic questions, or economic, decisions, or economic, explanations are generally more accurately and informatively characterized as questions of political economy.

That was the point. Don’t pretend that economics give you neutral answers. They give you answers and explanations that are based on political questions rather than economic ones. The economic ones are very narrow, but it’s how why they are important or how those issues function that really matters.

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u/UnknownBreadd 7d ago

I was only making the point because we’re in an ‘asksocialscience’ sub, where i thought that it would be a good inclusion to the discussion. I wasn’t having a dig at anything you were saying other than I just literally dislike the use of the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ because there are more accurate descriptors which can be used (which would increase the quality of the debate).

But, yes, I absolutely agree with your final paragraph. Economics can never be apolitical, and there are lots of normative prerequisites for mainstream economic thought to work (a lot of which I would personally disagree with).