Learning economics from random articles in the mainstream press is like learning software development from reading Wired. There are many schools of thought in

Learning economics from random articles in the mainstream press is like learning software development from reading Wired. There are many schools of thought in the world of economics, and they often disagree as to the causes of booms and busts (greedy capitalism, regulatory structures, the monetary system, etc). (Correct) economics attempts to describe what has happened in the past, it has very little to actually say about what you should do. If it did, all of the economists of the world would be filthy rich (they aren't).