Rules Roundtable Redux - Rule VI and off-topic comments Economics

Rules Roundtable Redux - Rule VI and off-topic comments
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Rules Roundtable Redux - Rule VI and off-topic comments

Posted: 08 Apr 2020 09:15 AM PDT

For reference, the previous edition of this post can be found here.

Welcome to the /r/Economics Rules Roundtable.

/r/Economics strives to be a subreddit dedicated to quality discussion of economic articles, news and research. However, like many communities on Reddit, good discussion often gets drowned out by a mass of off-topic and low effort discussion. In order to improve the quality of discussion on the subreddit, the mod team will be stepping up enforcement of the existing rules.

Today we'd specifically like to discuss Rule VI. Rule VI is meant to remove low quality and off-topic comments, leaving room for quality comments to thrive. Rule VI's existence is due to user complaints - our most recent survey found that most users want stricter rule enforcement then we have used in the past.

What comments are disallowed under rule VI? A comment must:

1) Show an reasonable engagement with the material of the article. This can be done by asking a related question, critiquing the article's argument, discussing economic theory bringing up new sources, etc.

2) In addition, comments which are jokes, personal anecdotes or are overly political are prohibited.

Comments that do not fit within these guidelines will be removed. Posters who show a history of posting these kinds of comments repeatedly will be warned and eventually banned.

Engagement With The Article

Discussion of an article can only occur when posters have actually read the article. This may seem obvious, but we receive a large volume of comments that are just reactions to the headline or quick broad statements on the topic area. Comments where it is clear that the poster has not read the article will be removed. This doesn't mean every comment has to be a point by point commentary. What it does mean is we will remove comments that are too short to make a coherent argument or make no mention to anything beyond the title. In addition we will remove comments that clearly show an ignorance of the article such as posts that accuse the authors of ignoring information included in the article, or do not mention anything beyond a simple reaction to the headline. Good questions about the content of the article, or the facts which would place the article into better context are allowed and encouraged.

Good: I'm not sure the author's reaction to the minimum wage study is appropriate, given that they didn't examine whether or not specific subgroups in the population might be impacted more than others.
Bad: Everyone knows a minimum wage is going to cost jobs.
Bad: You can't really get by on the current minimum wage, it needs to be higher.

Political Comments

Economics is concerned with public policy which means its subject matter is frequently the subject of political debate. While we recognize it's impossible to have an economics forum and not touch on politics, economics itself is not a political exercise. Posters should be sure to focus on the economic mechanisms and arguments of articles posted here while avoiding comments or discussions that would better be left to /r/politics or cable news.

Good: I don't think it's appropriate to pass a tax cut that will increase the deficit while the economy is booming - this should be the time when we balance the budget and pay off some of the debt.
Bad: Of course the GOP and their minions just want to slash taxes on the rich, damn the consequences.
Bad: Liberals weren't concerned about the deficit while Obama was president, but under Trump now they're super concerned about the deficit, huh?

Personal Anecdotes

Comments whose arguments rely solely on personal anecdotes will be removed. This reflects the fact that personal anecdotes are specific to individuals and cannot be properly placed into context without further information. Thus they cannot be the basis of a proper economic argument. If the main point of your comment is a personal anecdote, it will be removed.

Good: According to this research paper, the premium for a college education is still near all-time high levels.
Bad: My school was basically useless - when I got my job, I didn't use anything I learned in college.
Bad: Everyone in my family has gone into the trades, and we make way more money than the people in my town who went to college.

A Note on Bigotry

The /r/economics modteam strives to create an inclusive space to discuss economics. As such we have no tolerance for racism, sexism or other bigotry. All offenders will be banned.

You may have noticed that the mod team has been stepping up Rule VI enforcement in the last few days - please expect this continue. We hope these changes will allow higher quality discussions to flourish. Please report any comments that you believe break these rules in order to help the mod team implement these changes. We welcome any feedback or questions on these policies in the comment section.