Friday, August 12, 2005

It was almost Mankiwish 

At Division of Labour, Craig Depken finds an embarrassing quote from Bush's chief economic advisor
From the August 9 press conference that Al Hubbard and Ben Bernanke held in Crawford Texas comes this quote:

CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Well, I mean, I'm an economist, I talk in statistics.
I winced when I read that statement and I am an emprical economist. We should, as a field, be talking more economics and less statistics - especially when the average person is listening.
It's not going to draw press attention like Greg Mankiw's infamous outsourcing comments, but Craig's right that it does cause one to wince. Economics speaks in theory -- elegant applications of a relatively simple logic. Statistics, as the old saying goes, are like lampposts, for support rather than illumination.

Permalink here.
Posted by King : 9:59 AM
|

[Top]