The Gabriel Zucman Six Act Social Media Event

I am generally no supporter of White House economic adviser Kevin "Baghdad" Hassett but during a recent interview on CNN, Hassett used a common economic term "human capital."

It was an odd phrase to use during a general television interview but there was nothing technically wrong with its use.

But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who somehow gained a bachelor's degree in economics from Boston Univeristy (SEE: Boston University Economics Professors: "We Are Very Proud of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez") exploded at Hassett's perfectly sound use of the term.

Human Capital Stock.

An ugly term w ugly history, but for many powerful ppl it‘s their most honest view of workers: human stock.

By their logic, the moment a person stops being useful to profit motive (retirement, health, etc) they are a liability. That’s the system we live in. https://t.co/ZihhtaI00W

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 26, 2020

The pro-tax economics professor at UC Berkeley, Gabriel Zucman, backed AOC up.

Phil Magness picks up the story from here with the six act play:

 Act 1: Gabriel Zucman fires off a bunch of tweets claiming that the phrase "human capital stock" only makes sense in reference to slavery, thereby lending support to the AOC/Steinbaum claims of the last few days.

Act 2: A bunch of twitter users find lecture slides on Zucman's own website where he approvingly refers to the "stock of human capital" in its normal usage.

Act 3: Zucman alters the lecture slides on his website to hide his previous use of the term.

Act 4: Twitter users dig up an archive of the original text and show it's been altered in the last few hours.

Act 5: BadEconTakes tweets the whole series of events.

pic.twitter.com/hePpoow6Cn

— Bad Econ Takes (@BadEconTakes) May 28, 2020

Act 6: Zucman lashes out at BadEconTakes and claims he's the victim of "bullying."

Please take note: The left plays by different rules whereby truth and reality are not necessary if it is a hindrance in an attack or to gain power.

-RW