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Regardless of his suggestions for Pittsfield, Charles Murray is a notable right wing hack. His main claim to fame is the incredibly ignorant book The Bell Curve. He also works for AEI which was one of the big cheerleaders that lied us into the Iraq War.
His work should be taken with a grain of salt. I can guarantee that every economic analysis he does will boil down to blaming poor people and giving the ruling class (unless they are Democrats, in which case they supposedly created the poor) a pass.
You've got the wrong Charles Murray dude. AIER's Charles Murray is Charles Edgar Murray,
Editor: Thanks for pointing that out. As a followup, Mr. Murray from AIER is a former professor of economics; the Mr. Murray who wrote "The Bell Curve" is a political scientist with the American Enterprise Institute. I could see how someone might be confused by similar names and institute acronyms. But if he had been the "The Bell Curve" author, we certainly would have mentioned it.
While you have politely and properly withdrawn your assertion, I will respectfully suggest that we do follow your advice and take all economic opinions with a "grain of salt", as you put it.
In many ways, I "feel" for Mr. Murray as economists must deliver a static forecast in a dynamic world.
Whie I am by no means pointing the finger directly or solely at Mr. Murray or AIER, I would imagine that he would agree that forecasts are based on a series of "if/then" statements. As the actual scenarios vary from those expected (and they could be less than material variations), then forecasts are subject to modification.
A year from now any (or all) predction(s) Mr. Murray made at this meeting could be completely wrong. And that's not a flaw of Mr. Murray specifically (the same could be said of any forecast I make), it's simply a flaw of delivering a set of one-time predictions and then leaving that information with a group of listeners that are not able to receive fairly regular updates.
My point? If whatever Mr. Murray said at this event (static forecast) turns out to be "wrong" a year or so from today, it is extremely likely that he, like any good economist, changed his mind somewhere along the line (dynamic world).
"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir." - John Maynard Keynes
One Injured in 4-Vehicle Crash on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
The second car in the crash, a Subaru sedan, was also taken away by a wrecker. Two other vehicles were able to be driven away.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — One person was taken to Berkshire Medical Center following a multi-motor vehicle accident Saturday night at the Hubbard and Dalton avenues intersection.
The crashes happened at 9:04 p.m. when a westbound Honda Accord on Dalton Avenue crossed the double yellow line, striking a Subaru sedan traveling east, causing it to spin out.
An Audi sport utility vehicle collided with the Subaru, which was then rear-ended by a GMC Savana van.
The operator of the Audi was taken to BMC with unknown injuries. The incident is still under investigation.
The GMC Savana and Honda Accord were able to drive away from the scene and the Audi and the Subaru were towed away.
The crashes happened at 9:40 p.m. when a westbound Honda Accord on Dalton Avenue crossed the double yellow line, striking a Subaru sedan traveling east, causing it to spin out.
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