C. S. Lewis defines chronological snobbery as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.”
This can be applied to current economic and finance research. Without a doubt our knowledge of the economy and finance has advanced over the last decade, but it is less clear that we know how to properly discount our current knowledge relative to what is known from the past. Current thinking about monetary policy and our wisdom about how to make policy choices may be worse today than twenty years ago. Current modeling techniques such as ML may seem to have an advantage versus older techniques; however, the benefit after empirical testing may be limited.
A conservative approach to economics or investing does not mean clinging to old ideas as always being better. It does mean that new theories and approaches should be viewed with healthy skepticism - "please tell me your new ideas and then let's determine whether they are truly better." The conceit of today may lead to ruin tomorrow, so always be careful with following the research fashion of the day.
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