Fed Economist: Bloggers are Stupid

A Richmond Va. Federal Reserve Economist, Kartik Athreya wrote a paper recently that trashes economic bloggers. Mr. Artheya has a PhD from the University of Iowa. I’m not so sure a few years in corn land gives him the right to take cheap shots at the new media. I am absolutely convinced that this type of thinking should not be expressed by Fed officials. It proves to me that the Fed is an elitist organization that is out of touch with America in 2010. The full report from Athreya is here. Some of the more offending comments:

Writers who have not taken a year of PhD coursework in a decent economics department (and passed their PhD qualifying exams), cannot meaningfully advance the discussion on economic policy.

So we have to go to school for two years to be able to write about the issues of the day. That would exclude me and a lot of others. The fact that I worked on Wall Street for 30 years does not qualify me to say a word.

The response of the untrained to the crisis has been even more startling. I listen to Elizabeth Warren on the radio fearlessly speculating about the nature of credit market dysfunction, and so on.

Taking on Elizabeth Warren is a big mistake Mr. Arthreya. You will regret this choice of words.

The real issue is that there is extremely low likelihood that the speculations of the untrained, on a topic almost pathologically riddled by dynamic considerations and feedback effects, will offer anything new. Moreover, there is a substantial likelihood that it will instead offer something incoherent or misleading.

Everything that comes from the Federal Reserve is incoherent and misleading.

The sophomoric musings of auto-didact or non-didact bloggers or writers is instructive. For those who want to really know what the best that economics has to offer is, you must look here.

The only people you should listen to is Federal Reserve economists? I take a different view. The last people you should trust in this matter is FRB economists.

The general public are simply being had by the bulk of the economic blogging crowd.

The general public is being had. But not by the bloggers. They are being had by the folks who make the choices for us at the FRB.

The views expressed are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, or Federal Reserve System.

Actually the views expressed are a perfect representation of the mind set at the FRB. Narrow minded, elitist and just plain wrong.


I would suggest that Mr. Arthreya do some additional research. He should look up the word “hubris” (extreme haughtiness or arrogance). After he understands that concept he should write an apology, that or he should resign from the FRB.