I think you're being actively uncharitable, but I'll offer the other cheek and agree to call that "misunderstanding" instead. My objection is to the use of the

I think you're being actively uncharitable, but I'll offer the other cheek and agree to call that "misunderstanding" instead. My objection is to the use of the unemployment rate (as defined by most governments), not to the study of the actual economic phenomenon of unemployment. We should insist on using better or less massaged indicators (perhaps the labor participation rate, though I do not want to get into a discussion of which specific indicator to use as a replacement), instead of going along with the use of deceptive statistics. If you think that is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I retort that throwing out a field's metaphorical babies can be an appropriate punishment for deceiving the public. Surely economists, of all people, can appreciate the importance of putting the correct incentives in place.