Economists – Who/what are they?

Economists – Who (what) are they?

That question began bugging me soon after the 2007 meltdown when accounts of the financial mess dominated the daily media bloviations and joblessness became concern number one. Invariably, un-named economists were quoted.

Almost without exception their ‘forecasts’ were preceded by terms unexpected, surprise, unanticipated and/or shocking. I began to think: Someone’s not doing a very good job here.

Until then, I never thought much, if ever, about what these guys do. They were like worms – underground, quiet, efficient, going about their daily chores of making the world a nutritious utopia, or at the minimum, a meritocratic arena. I did, however, read their magazine The Economist on two separate occasions. No help there. Each attempt resulted in falling asleep on the plane. That was then.

Considering the media hype, I wondered how they spend their days. So I conferred with the ultimate source: Wikipedia. ‘What is an economist?’ I typed.

Wiki responded with nineteen pages of explanation. I began to understand the nexus of my confusion.

I learned there are: macro-economists, micro-economists, positive economists, normative economists, applied economists, rational economists, behavioral economists, mainstream economists, heterodox economists (as opposed to homo-economists?), and, God help us, ecological economists.

No wonder these poor nerds are confused. Forget about forging a consensus on interest rates or why employment rates are low.

The exact definition is: “A professional in the social science discipline of economics.” First of all, the term social science is an oxymoron. I reflexively jumped to the conclusion that an economist must be a moron with an ox. The definition went on to claim the job of an economist is to do research, analyze and write theories. (Probably not tasks particularly suited to oxen.)

Nineteen pages and a bottle of eye drops later, I understood their role: They write purposely obfuscating analyses supporting political positions already taken by paid-for politicians.

My question now is: Why are there no jobs? Not here, not anywhere.

Perhaps we need more pure scientists and fewer social scientists.