Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff are the equivalent of economic superstars to the right-wing. Their paper “Growth in Time of Debt” was the foundation for the entire austerity mantra which has been pushed by the right-wing. Their paper was the foundation for the Paul Ryan budget. And, as it turned out, the entire thing was based on cherry picked data and a basic math error. But when presented with clear falsified data, rational people admit their mistake, and move on.





But not Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. Instead of admitting their failure, they have refused to admit their mistakes and instead tried to attack their critics. They dismiss both the mathematical error as important, and dismiss the revelation that the two economists cherry picked their data by selectively ignoring whole nations in order to achieve the results desired. They then pointed to a new paper to defend themselves, but a simple checking of their reference material reveals that their numbers in this new paper came from their original piece, the one which has been discredited. This takes their defense and effectively eliminates it.

The problem is, their original piece was picked up and widely disseminated throughout the world. European nations based their failed push for austerity based on the work of Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. As a result, the United Kingdom fell into a double-dip recession and the other nations which followed their economic model are regretting that decision. These two, with their reckless push for austerity measures flying in the face of economic reality, are the root cause of our current economic malaise.

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff’s original paper is full of omissions and a math error, and their attempt to defend themselves with a new paper, which cites their original, discredited piece, only serves to demonstrate how bad their original piece was. They are economic con men, serving only to deliver the information desired by cherry picking their sources. In their new paper, they cite their old paper, one already found to have fundamental flaws in the methodology, and expect us to trust them. Even then they admit their mistakes, such as omitting multiple years of Spain’s economic data, they do so in a way so as to try and turn the tables on their critics. The fact remains, they lied in their paper, in order to generate the desired result, and now that they have been caught are trying to their best to cover up their tracks.

They are liars, and are a fraud, and do not deserve the title of economists.

Nathaniel Downes is the son of a former state representative of New Hampshire, now living in Seattle Washington.

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