Climateer Line of the Day: Why Do People Think Economists are Charlatans Edition

Today's winning line comes from Cullen Roche at Pragmatic Capitalism:

Being a non-economist, I have to side with the non-economists....

He starts his post:

Noah Smith asks an interesting question and offers the non-economist answer:

“Now, maybe this was just an expression of good old American anti-intellectualism, like Insane Clown Posse’s views on magnetism, or the Republican party’s denial of evolution. But Bob Hall, who was a discussant on the paper (and who I’ve heard referred to as “the greatest working macroeconomist”) had a different interpretation. “The average American,” Hall memorably declared, “thinks of economists as masters of an alien religion, with teachings no more relevant than Buddhism.” Non-economists, he said, see economists not as empirical scientists, but as deductivist Aristotelian philosophers, sitting around and thinking of how economies ought to work while totally ignoring the evidence of how they really do work.”

Being a non-economist, I have to side with the non-economists.  To me, this problem is rather simple.  Economists tend to dabble too much in ideology and not enough in reality.   I’ve described this as a problem resulting from the lack of a Da Vinci methodology.  In other words, there is too much confirmation bias occurring in economics where economists create solutions extending from a preferred ideology as opposed to a solid understanding of our surroundings.  That’s putting the cart before the horse....MORE

Smith goes on like a pyromaniac in a field of straw men without getting to the real problem with economists, that they are just a bunch of jaw flappers.

Speaking of jaw flappers and economists, the pyro line is from William F. Buckley about economist John Kenneth Galbraith and is, regardless of your politics, pretty funny, especially if you saw The Wizard of Oz over the Hols.

See also:
Economic Navel Gazing: Does Anyone Care What Economists Think About Anything Anymore?
Economists Fess Up
The Mamma of all Mea Culpas: The IMF Did Not Understand How Austerity Would Undercut Growth
Research Says Learning Economics Turns You Into A Liar
Robots Raise a Row(e) in Economics Land

Always remember, economics is not reality and the fact that economists use the tools of scientists (maths) does not make it a science. Or, as George E.P. Box said so much better:

"...All models are wrong, but some are useful"

Basically the Best Economics Article of All Time