It is worth noting that a majority of economists are studying narrower and more tractable problems than predicting business cycles/asset prices. Take a look at

It is worth noting that a majority of economists are studying narrower and more tractable problems than predicting business cycles/asset prices. Take a look at Al Roth's work on matching markets (useful for organising more efficient organ donation or school attendance systems) or Jim Heckman's work on policy evaluation (useful for measuring the impact of educational policy on lifetime earnings children. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2015/06/alvin-roths-new-book http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2015/06/alvin-ro... http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304407685901393 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/03044076859...