Amen. In another Century or two folks will equate our economic knowledge at the same level as 16th or 17th Century medicine. . .
I'm not so sure. In a similar vein, Richard Dawkins said it's almost the case that evolution has created human brains which have a hard time understanding evolution! For example, we keep wanting to inject purpose or meaning or intention into it.
So with economics . . . we as humans are all geared up to understand fairness in the micro, and are much less geared up to understand or even focus on whether the overall system is delivering the goods.
For example, in my next post I'm going to pull a quote from economist Alan Blinder that most people just don't understand Keynesian economics. But I'm afraid it's even worse than that. Most people don't even understand when a recession is going on! (which might in part be a positive thing leading to continued trying)
My first job after graduating high school was working for a department store from Oct. 1981 to March 1982. And since I was only hired for the Christmas season, I thought it was a success staying on until March. I struggled with finding another job, and my Dad blamed me for not trying hard enough. My best friend graduated one year after me in early June 1982. Around August '82, he joined the U.S. Navy in part motivated because of job difficulties and not liking only working in a stupid restaurant. Yes, he served honorably, but I would have liked for him to have more real choices. In late Aug. I started college (one year break after high school), I took micro-economics the first semester, macro-economics the second semester. There was a small amount of dorm political talk since Nov. '82 was a mid-term election. I remember a biology grad student who led our study session was concerned with environmental issues. My first two years I also took accounting, sociology, and an English class which focused on the last 30 years or so of American culture.
And no one said jack shit about the 1982 recession.
I even had a commission sales job the Summer of '83 in which we attempted to sell outdoor signs to businesses. It was a rip-off sales jobs, as about half of sales jobs are. But they could have at least used the fact that we were coming out of recession for purposes of hucksterism. But nope, no mention of it there either. And my friend who joined the Navy, his Dad was our scoutmaster and did better than average as someone who treated young persons as people worthy of easy and matter-of-fact respect. But nope, he never said, hey guys, we're living through the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression, don't get down on yourself if it's hard to find a job, never said anything of the sort.
And the biology lecture leader, and please understand I'm also concerned with the environment, well, if I had had the knowledge and confidence that I have today, I would have raised my hand and said, Steve, you have your head ten feet up your ass. Now, you know why you have your head ten feet up your ass, you curious? Well, I'm going to tell you. Because we are living through the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression -- right now -- and we're not going to get any of the things which you want, and which I want, until we turn that around. (And yes, I think some PG profanity can often be great as an attention getter, sometimes, if it's about the situation and not the person, but then sometimes not. And I would have preached on the importance of economics because it needs to be preached on)
And yes, the 2008-2009 Great Recession has eclipsed 1982 as the biggest downturn since the thirties, and maybe it was high-texture enough to get people's attention. But since a fair number of people focused on the danger of "socialism" with government health care, and on "government spending," I really don't know to what extent this really, actually registers with people.
Maybe the next bar conversation on politics, ask people if they can name the three biggest downturns since the Great Depression. Or, find a better way, people don't like acknowledging that there's something important which they really don't know about.