ClimEconomists

-- by Horatio Algeranon

ClimEconomists,

Like ducks at fairs:

Shoot one down

And another appears.

There seems to be an endless line of economists who actually believe that simply knowing something about statistics (and time series analysis in particular) is all that is required to assess (and challenge) the fundamentals of climate science (which involves real science: physics, chemistry, geology, biology, etc).

Every time a ClimEconomist (eg, Steve Levitt) is shot down with science ("An open letter to Steve Levitt"), another pops up to take it's place (eg, Nate Silver), who, in turn is shot down with science (FiveThirtyEight: The Number of Things Nate Silver Gets Wrong About Climate Change) to be replaced by yet another (ad economitum)

For a ditty on the same theme, read Untainted by Physics.