Afternoon Must-Read: Barry Ritholtz: What’s the Penalty for Pundits Who Get It Wrong? Arthur Laffer Edition

Barry Ritholtz: What’s the Penalty for Pundits Who Get It Wrong?: “Five years ago, Arthur Laffer…

…wrote an op-ed article… a grab bag of his pet peeves: opposition to Federal Reserve policies … concern about the ‘unfunded liabilities of federal programs’… he decried deficits, which in large part are the result of his thesis that tax cuts often increase revenue. As it turns out, for the most part, they don’t…. Pretty much every single warning, every data point, every item Laffer complained about was wrong. Why does this happen, and why are there no penalties for being so inaccurate? … This isn’t about economics, it’s about politics. Unfortunately, the dismal science has become the vehicle of choice for those who seek to further their own political agenda…