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I think the economists you are talking about become experts at some manageable and very small sub-segment of economic activity. I am speaking more about those

I think the economists you are talking about become experts at some manageable and very small sub-segment of economic activity. I am speaking more about those who are quick to analyze such things as the global stock markets and, years later, they are still "CNBC contributors" and not independently wealthy. I always go back to when I read "The Big Short" and realized that ALL of these economists missed a herd of elephants in the room. If I remember correctly, the two or three people who called it (and were yelling and screaming about the impending doom) and ultimately shorted the market and made truck-loads of money were not economists but rather intense observers and practitioners. I think one of them had Aspergers (It's been a few years since I read the book).

Mikeb85 11y ago
That's some unrealistic criteria you have there. No one is an expert in every facet of physics or maths. Yes economists specialize. As do engineers. Or doctors. As for pundits, there's a reason they're pundits... Is Sergey Brin or John Carmack going to host a tech segment on TV? That's silly, as silly as thinking TV economists would be as successful as people like Jan Hatzius (BTW, he did correctly anticipate the crisis of 2008, and GS bet against the market and made a killing during that time).
- rebootthesystem 11y ago
  I am only using TV economists as an example. The estimate is that there are well over 15,000 economists in the US. I think, in general terms, their performance is poor. This isn't about being experts as you suggest.