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Economists....

Great post Headscratcher! They look so fascinated at the (changing) number.

I put economists (and the "science" of economics) on the same footing as astrologists. They're great at predicting the past.

It's also sad and pathetic that politicians use (and pay dearly for) them in decision making.

Charlie (irrational man) Monoxide
 
The problems with economics and the average joe's view of economics is due to a few factors:
A) the joe sees the economists on TV and assumes they are reputable, then he wonders why they cant agree if economics is sound
B) the joe doesnt truely understand macro or micro economics or even the basic terminology

In other words, the problem is ignorance. If you had an astrologer and an astronomist on TV and represented them both as "experts on the stars" to the average Joe, I have no doubt you would feel the same way about "star experts" as you do about economists.

And of course, since real economics disagrees with many people's political beliefs, they would rather wallow in their ignorance.
 
corplinx said:
The problems with economics and the average joe's view of economics is due to a few factors:
A) the joe sees the economists on TV and assumes they are reputable, then he wonders why they cant agree if economics is sound
B) the joe doesnt truely understand macro or micro economics or even the basic terminology

In other words, the problem is ignorance. If you had an astrologer and an astronomist on TV and represented them both as "experts on the stars" to the average Joe, I have no doubt you would feel the same way about "star experts" as you do about economists.

And of course, since real economics disagrees with many people's political beliefs, they would rather wallow in their ignorance.
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I couldn't agree more, corplix. That and the almost non-existent teaching of it until the college level (where it is only required for a few areas of study) is a national shame. Probably because, as you said, it crosses w/ people's political views. Which is sad, because economics knows no political boundaries, only what works and what doesn't.
 
Here's a funny account of an engineering student who pretended to be an economics professor.
An Oxford engineering student was surprised but undaunted when he was approached to deliver a series of lectures in Beijing on global economics.

Matthew Richardson knew "next to nothing" about the subject but, believing he would be addressing a sixth-form audience, he felt he could "carry it off".

Mr Richardson, 23, borrowed an A-level textbook entitled An Introduction to Global Financial Markets from a library and swotted up on its contents on the flight from London to China.

From it he prepared a two-hour presentation, believing he had to deliver the same lecture several times over to different groups of students over three days.

Mr Richardson, who has the same name as a New York University professor who is a leading authority on international financial markets, was met at the airport and taken straight to a conference centre where, over lunch, "the horrible truth became apparent".

He said: "It became clear to me that my audience was not students, but people from the world of commerce studying for a PhD in business studies having already gained an MBA.

"And instead of repeating the same lecture, I was required to deliver a series of different lectures to the same people over three days. The first one was immediately after lunch.

"I have no idea who they were expecting. Being Chinese, they were inscrutable and if they were expecting someone else they didn't show it. Perhaps they thought I was a prodigy. They all called me professor.

"I had come this far, so I decided not to back out. I hoped I could blag my way through."
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The rest of the story . . .
 
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