I’ve strong upvoted Ben’s points, and would add a couple of concerns: * I don’t know how in any particular situation one would usefully separate the object-level from the general principle. What heuristic would I follow to judge how far to defer to experts on banana growers in Honduras on the subject of banana-related politics? * The less pure a science gets (using https://xkcd.com/435/ as a guide), the less we should be inclined to trust its authorities, but the less we should also be inclined to trust our own judgement—the relevant factors grow at a huge rate
So sticking to the object level and the eg of minimum wage, I would not update on a study that much, but strong agree with Ben that 98% is far too confident, since when you say ‘the only theoretical reason’, you presumably mean ‘as determined by other social science theory’.
(In this particular case, it seems like you’re conflating the (simple and intuitive to me as well fwiw) individual effect of having to pay a higher wage reducing the desirability of hiring someone with the much more complex and much less intuitive claim that higher wages in general would reduce number of jobs in general—which is the sort of distinction that an expert in the field seems more likely to be able to draw.)
So my instinct is that Bayesians should only strongly disagree with experts in particular cases where they can link their disagreement to particular claims the experts have made that seem demonstrably wrong on Bayesian lights.
As I mention in the post, it’s not just theory and common sense, but also evidence from other domains. If the demand curve for labour low skilled labour is vertical, then it is all but impossible that a massive influx of Cuban workers during the Mariel boatlift had close to zero effect on native US wages. Nevertheless, that is what the evidence suggests.
I am happy to be told of other theoretical explanations of why minimum wages don’t reduce demand for labour. The ones I am aware of in the literature are monopsonistic buyer of labour (clearly not the case), or one could give up on the view that firms are systematically profit-seeking (also doesn’t seem true).
The claims that are wrong are the ones I highlight in the post, viz that the empirical evidence is all that matters when forming believe about the minimum wage. Most empirical research isn’t that good and cannot distinguish signal from noise when there are small treatment effects e.g. the Card and Krueger research that started the whole debate off got their data by telephoning fast food restaurants.
I’ve strong upvoted Ben’s points, and would add a couple of concerns:
* I don’t know how in any particular situation one would usefully separate the object-level from the general principle. What heuristic would I follow to judge how far to defer to experts on banana growers in Honduras on the subject of banana-related politics?
* The less pure a science gets (using https://xkcd.com/435/ as a guide), the less we should be inclined to trust its authorities, but the less we should also be inclined to trust our own judgement—the relevant factors grow at a huge rate
So sticking to the object level and the eg of minimum wage, I would not update on a study that much, but strong agree with Ben that 98% is far too confident, since when you say ‘the only theoretical reason’, you presumably mean ‘as determined by other social science theory’.
(In this particular case, it seems like you’re conflating the (simple and intuitive to me as well fwiw) individual effect of having to pay a higher wage reducing the desirability of hiring someone with the much more complex and much less intuitive claim that higher wages in general would reduce number of jobs in general—which is the sort of distinction that an expert in the field seems more likely to be able to draw.)
So my instinct is that Bayesians should only strongly disagree with experts in particular cases where they can link their disagreement to particular claims the experts have made that seem demonstrably wrong on Bayesian lights.
As I mention in the post, it’s not just theory and common sense, but also evidence from other domains. If the demand curve for labour low skilled labour is vertical, then it is all but impossible that a massive influx of Cuban workers during the Mariel boatlift had close to zero effect on native US wages. Nevertheless, that is what the evidence suggests.
I am happy to be told of other theoretical explanations of why minimum wages don’t reduce demand for labour. The ones I am aware of in the literature are monopsonistic buyer of labour (clearly not the case), or one could give up on the view that firms are systematically profit-seeking (also doesn’t seem true).
The claims that are wrong are the ones I highlight in the post, viz that the empirical evidence is all that matters when forming believe about the minimum wage. Most empirical research isn’t that good and cannot distinguish signal from noise when there are small treatment effects e.g. the Card and Krueger research that started the whole debate off got their data by telephoning fast food restaurants.