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1. Trade deficits are inherently bad

2. Trade deficits are not inherently bad

Which claim sounds more “flimsy”?

It would be better to articulate the gist of an on-topic thought in the confines of a HN post, rather than sending people off to go read something. If something in the article is wrong, let's address that exact thing in the comment. If you have understood your own beliefs well and can articulate them, then you can make great impact on a thread that way.

"Just read this link" on a complex and controversial topic may be comparable to "Just read this religious tract".

> "Just read this link" on a complex and controversial topic may be comparable to "Just read this religious tract".

That’s a ridiculous and unhinged comparison.

Economics in general is more akin to religion than it is to science. Seems pretty hinged to me

Incoherent response. tonymet (OP) protested that it was a “complicated topic”, not that economics itself is bunk. In fact saying that it is a complicated topic implies that one should respect the field.

You can’t arbitrarily denigrate one side of the argument because economics is a religion when both sides take it as a given that economics is a rational field of study.

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