This Paul Mason guy

[Jimski]

I'm talking about the 'Post Capitalism' guy. He seems to be being talked up quite a lot at the moment, but I confess, having read a few articles, I've got no idea whether he knows what he's talking about, or whether there's a touch of "emperor's new clothes" about it. It's so far outside what I'm used to reading that it could all be complete nonsense for all I know. Certainly my gut instinct is to be sceptical. What do others think?

[Snake Plissken]

This Paul Mason guy

There is a good YouTube clip of him getting angry about the repeated failures of the banks. He seems to know what he is talking about, and God knows we need an economist on TV who isn't slavishly about everything the free market ever does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf7a53y9RRM

I've always liked David McWilliams over in Ireland and this guy seems cut from similar cloth.

[E10 Rifle]

This Paul Mason guy

Read Meltdown, his 2009 book on the financial crisis. Well explained and prescient

[anton pulisov]

This Paul Mason guy

I've found that Paul Mason doesn't really go into depth in his analysis. He's a left wing journalist at a mainstream broadcaster. There aren't many of those, so he's a welcome voice, but I don't think he's any more informed than his right wing counterparts in the mainstream media.

[hobbes]

This Paul Mason guy

His California Carafes weren't very good. Maybe that's why he went into Economics.

[Bored Of Education]

This Paul Mason guy

Ha.

This is the thread you are looking for.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

This Paul Mason guy

Ian Carmichael disagreed with hobbes of course (from 0:12 in this clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olI8qGPrY_Y

[Toro Toro]

This Paul Mason guy

I think it's true that he doesn't go into a lot of detail, and particularly with the Greece stuff I get the feeling that people's liking for him is directly related to the degree that they agree with him.

However, one thing he does which very few economics/finance journalists bother with - at least some of the time because they don't seem to be sure themselves - is explaining phenomena and concepts.

[Incandenza]

This Paul Mason guy

hobbes wrote: His California Carafes weren't very good. Maybe that's why he went into Economics.

[E10 Rifle]

This Paul Mason guy

I think it's true that he doesn't go into a lot of detail, and particularly with the Greece stuff I get the feeling that people's liking for him is directly related to the degree that they agree with him.

However, one thing he does which very few economics/finance journalists bother with - at least some of the time because they don't seem to be sure themselves - is explaining phenomena and concepts.

Also, he understands that economics is about politics, and isn't a science with immutable 'natural' laws.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This Paul Mason guy

He does explain well and thinks ordinary people are worth talking to.

[Jimski]

This Paul Mason guy

Thanks for the replies and the link to the thread in Books (guess I should have look in there first, eh?) It's the post-capitalism prediction stuff that seems very, well, weird, to me. His general reporting seems sound.

[IronSeaPower]

This Paul Mason guy

Not sure I totally understand his musings on C4 News but I like the way he looks like he's only a moment away from chinning Krishnan Guru-Murthy during interviews.

[DCI Harry Batt]

This Paul Mason guy

E10 Rifle wrote:
Also, he understands that economics is about politics, and isn't a science with immutable 'natural' laws.

Yes.

[anton pulisov]

This Paul Mason guy

I think nearly all economists would tell you that it is a social science and not a natural science.