Why don’t people want to elect economists to run stuff?
Because everyone hates them
By Alex PareeneTopics: Politics, Economics, Science, Politics News
President of European Central Bank Mario Draghi addresses the media during a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, following a meeting of the ECB governing council concerning the further strategies in the European financial crisis. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)(Credit: Michael Probst)Two economists have come together to research the question of whether or not countries are smart enough to put economists in charge of everything. Their surprising conclusion: Nope, not really! There are hardly any economist prime ministers and surprisingly not that many economist central bankers, at least if we’re talking PhD economists and not “guys who took an Econ class once.”
At Ezra Klein’s WonkBlog, Brad Plumer summarizes the study and asks, “why aren’t more countries run by economists?” Here’s why: Because everyone hates economists. Economists are the worst. They’re usually very convinced of their own genius, though. And they act like because they use math, their “science” is more sciencey than sociology or whatever, but it is still mostly just a bunch of made-up stuff. If a bunch of economists had been running the world prior to the 2008 financial crisis the 2008 financial crisis would not have been averted because almost no one predicted it.
But the most important reason there aren’t a ton of economist prime ministers is that economists disdain politics. Economists tend to get a great deal of pleasure out of loudly attacking very popular policies (higher minimum wage! tax code giveaways to the upper-middle-class!) and they generally talk about normal people as little mindless “economic units” or something awful and dehumanizing like that. Economists don’t want to “campaign” and convince people to vote for them, they just want to be appointed to positions of power by people who actually did shake a bunch of hands and tell people what they wanted to hear. An economist doesn’t want to be an elected official who answers to voters, because that sucks.
Conveniently, the researchers did not bother to answer the question of whether countries that put economists in charge of stuff actually have better economic outcomes. But the economist in charge of Europe’s central bank is currently purposefully imposing disastrous austerity on a bunch of countries that did not elect him, so really if you want to know why we don’t let economists run stuff look at Spain’s youth unemployment rate.
Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Poll shows Bachmann trailing in 2014 reelection race
-
White House lawyer reportedly knew of IRS findings in April
-
There's hope for progressivism yet
-
McConnell: Obamacare will dominate 2014 midterms
-
Georgian police slow to react to mob violence at gay rights march
-
Xenophobia only benefits the 1 percent
-
Three scandals, Beltway style
-
Meet GOP's fringy new star, E. W. Jackson
-
Peggy Noonan hears a dog whistle
-
Report: Obama to make big speech about drones, Guantanamo
-
Paul Krugman's right: Austerity kills
-
Poll: Obama approval at 53 percent amid IRS, Benghazi controversies
-
Sunday shows round-up: All about the IRS and Benghazi
-
Colin Quinn's "Unconstitutional" history lesson
-
Paul Ryan: "I don't know" if there was a Benghazi cover-up
-
Jon Karl makes things worse
-
FBI reportedly joins Bachmann campaign finance probe
-
How Guantanamo affects China: Our human rights hypocrisies
-
Jindal: IRS officials should "go to jail" for targeting
-
Dem Congressman slams GOP for "doctored" Benghazi emails
-
Must-see morning clip: Amy Poehler returns to SNL
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Mobile Entertainment: 9 Amazing Drive-In Movie Theaters Still Standing
-
The week in 10 pics
-
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Mobile Entertainment: 9 Amazing Drive-In Movie Theaters Still Standing
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Netflix's April Fools' Day categories
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Slideshow: Nerd Obama
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
Obstruction will ruin GOP
Jonathan Bernstein
-
We're living in an Ayn Rand economy
Paul Buchheit, AlterNet
-
Jaron Lanier: The Internet destroyed the middle class
Scott Timberg
-
"Jodorowsky's Dune": The sci-fi classic that never was
Andrew O'Hehir
-
Will you marry me -- once you're done peeing?
Tracy Clark-Flory
-
Temple Grandin on DSM-5: "Sounds like diagnosis by committee"
Temple Grandin
-
My open relationship went awry
David Farley
-
The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch
Benoit Denizet-Lewis
-
Stop comparing everything to "Girls"!
Daniel D'Addario
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

331 points332 points333 points | 270 comments
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
- The 10 Most Anti-Gay Statements From The Republican Nominee For Lt. Governor Of Virginia
-
Republican Virginia Lt. Governor Nominee: Obama Sees World "From A Muslim Perspective" -
Rep. Issa Aware Of IRS Investigation Since Last July -
French President Hollande Signs Marriage Equality Bill -
Obama Group Braces For Progressive Backlash Over Keystone


Comments
44 Comments