Richard Green is a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
This blog will feature commentary on the current state of housing, commercial real estate, mortgage finance, and urban development around the world. It may also at times have ruminations about graduate business education.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Why don't economists have more influence in the White House?
I was talking to someone who was an official in the adminstration about this. The person told me the problem is, in part, that economists have poor social skills. Maybe as part of grad school there should be a one credit charm school elective.
Economists are too diffuse as a constituency to have a prominent voice in any Administration. No state will be swung on the advice of economists, alas.
I really apreciate your work on the real estate, which gives us knowledge about the development in the real estate market growth in both commercial and residential spheres. Thanx alot for sharing such a great informaiton.
how else could you explain peter orszag leaving for citigroup, economists christy romer, larry summers, & austan goolsbee returning to teaching, & jared bernstein turning to blogging?
why should economists have more influence at the white house ? 1) I'm a non economists with high school algebra math, and what i see is nobel prize winners savaging each other (eg, today on brad delong, stiglitz gets hit). Why on earth shold I take you seriously if you have such disagreements, and even if i do, how do i choose the rigth one (reread galbraiths advice to a young beauracrat) 2) POTUS time is valuable, so we should give him/her valuble stuff. I value happyness and sex and seeing my family do well a lot more then salary or gdp; so why doens't the POTUS have a coucil of psychological advisors ?
Perhaps because economists are no longer relevant. The president is politically, and perhaps intellectually, constrained to a fairyland where the real world, that world however imperfectly described by economics, no longer factors into his decision making.
Excess stress causes psychological regression, and stress concentrates in positions with the responsibilities, but perhaps not the actualities, of power.
Economists are too diffuse as a constituency to have a prominent voice in any Administration. No state will be swung on the advice of economists, alas.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard. I think this is a deep and concerning question. I have some ideas, but as usual Charlie Shultze said it first and better:
ReplyDeletehttp://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/jecper/v10y1996i3p23-39.html
I really apreciate your work on the real estate, which gives us knowledge about the development in the real estate market growth in both commercial and residential spheres.
ReplyDeleteThanx alot for sharing such a great informaiton.
Toronto Condos for Sale
obama thinks he knows better..,
ReplyDeletehow else could you explain peter orszag leaving for citigroup, economists christy romer, larry summers, & austan goolsbee returning to teaching, & jared bernstein turning to blogging?
Its because economists are not politicians.
ReplyDeletewhy should economists have more influence at the white house ?
ReplyDelete1) I'm a non economists with high school algebra math, and what i see is nobel prize winners savaging each other (eg, today on brad delong, stiglitz gets hit). Why on earth shold I take you seriously if you have such disagreements, and even if i do, how do i choose the rigth one (reread galbraiths advice to a young beauracrat)
2) POTUS time is valuable, so we should give him/her valuble stuff. I value happyness and sex and seeing my family do well a lot more then salary or gdp; so why doens't the POTUS have a coucil of psychological advisors ?
In part because they've been SO WRONG. Think about economist Greenspan and you're on your way to an answer.
ReplyDeletePerhaps because economists are no longer relevant. The president is politically, and perhaps intellectually, constrained to a fairyland where the real world, that world however imperfectly described by economics, no longer factors into his decision making.
ReplyDeleteExcess stress causes psychological regression, and stress concentrates in positions with the responsibilities, but perhaps not the actualities, of power.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete