yeah I figured you were, but it seemed like some people were actually engaging with it. As if make-work somehow made the line go up.

There’s a fun joke:

2 economists are out walking. The first economist sees a pile of dog shit and says to the other, “I’ll pay you $50 to eat that dog shit.” So he does and gets paid $50. Later on, the second economist sees a pile of dog shit and says to the first, “I’ll pay you $50 to eat that pile of dog shit.” So he does and gets paid $50.

The first economist says, “I can’t help but feel we just ate dog shit for nothing.” “Nonsense,” says the second economist, “We just contributed $100 to the economy.”

Of course actual economists aren’t this terrible, but the popular perception of economics/monetary theory is about this braindead.