In 1981 some 364 eminent Economists wrote an open letter to Margaret Thatcher telling her that her policies would totally destroy the British Economy. Obviously that was the starting point for the greatest period of prosperity since the Victorian era.
That tells you all you need to know about these arseholes and you can stop reading right now if you wish (but why could they not find another arsehole to make it 365 arseholes - one arsehole for each day of the year?)
The fundamental reason is that these people are not really very bright - super intellient people study Mathematics or Physics (as it happens I have a degree in Mathematical Physics but that is purely a coincidence).
Because they were not bright enough to get into a Maths or Physics department they decided to become Economists and have been trying to compensate for it ever since - like Lord Farquaad in Shrek (my favourite film - my 3 year old twins watch it every afternoon) who is a dwarf and builds a really tall castle ...
Yes, there is a term for this sad condition - it is known as Physics Envy. The problem is that Physics has been stunningly successful in analysing the world in terms of mathematics. For a law or well established theory in Physics to be accurate to within 0.0000001% is not the least bit unusual.
All technology is the direct result of physics - your GPS compensates for the effects of Einstein's Two Theories of Relativity (Special and General) whereby time flows at different rates depending on gravity and velocity. Electronic devices compensate for Quantum Effects - physics is just unbelievably fundamental to everything that uses electricity. And everything that doesn't use electricity. Yes, everything.
So the economists want to reduce an economy to numbers and mathematics and unfortunately that just does not work. Why is the German economy so incredibly good at engineering? An economist will go on about the weakness of the Euro and interest rates and so on until the cows come home and fall asleep out of boredom.
But the real reason is much simpler - in Germany if you are a qualified engineer you can put "Ing" in front of your name and people will treat you with the respect that in this country is reserved for medical doctors and lawyers whereas we think an engineer is a guy who unblocks lavatories. It is that simple but you cannot express that in terms of a mathematical formula.
A lady I knew whose husband was a Chartered Civil Engineer came into my office one morning absolutely spitting feathers - she had been to a cocktail party the night before and a woman had been going round the room telling everbody in a loud braying voice "my husband is a barrister". And that sums it up. I am good at voices and if we ever meet I will do "my husband is a barrister" for you - like Princess Anne on steroids.
The keys to economic success are:
Clear property rights
An honest and impartial legal system
First class FREE education for all up to post graduate level so that nobody feels the need to send their kids to a private school
The minimum of restrictive regulation
The minimum of bureaucracy
The high status of geeks and engineers
Low taxation
A population that understands that although a lot of wealthy people are even bigger arseholes than economists, we are creating wealth and employment so should be regarded as heroes not villains.
Bob Cory
Modified on 12/09/2019 at 08:11:38 by ℗ Bob Cory