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52 sats \ 20 replies \ @SimpleStacker 31 Jul \ parent \ on: 400 Ph.D. Economists vs. One Shiny Rock econ
I know a bunch of those economists. Some of them are my personal friends and classmates.
As much as I respect their work, I do sometimes wonder why it's the Fed's job to be a general economic research institution. I suppose it helps to establish their reputation as a world-leading source of economics knowledge (self referential as that designation might be), but from a purely missional perspective of stable prices and stable employment, it probably isn't necessary to employ that many PhD economists.
"Make-work program for academic economists" is a remarkably accurate description.
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Yes, and the colleges and universities are pumping them out by the boatload, too, at this very moment!!
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It's not all that many. Less than one thousand per year, I think.
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Ok, one thousand for the state? Do many of them go into the private sector?
One last question, how many of them are not hallucinating about economic theory and fact?
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I'm a little out of touch with how many go into the private sector, but it's a large share. I don't know that a majority go to any of academia, government, or private. Those are the big three, though.
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If they are going to the private sector, someone must see the value in hiring them! I just hope they are getting their DMVP out of them!
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There are tons of economists who do consulting work or work on projects for tech companies.
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Good to hear! Someone is finding them useful for something. How accurate are they? Are they being profitable for those companies? What schools are they coming from?
Yes, especially since they are researching into something that can never happen: stable prices! They can never be stable, no matter what the FED would wish for because entrepreneurs will find ways to make things better and cheaper! All they are doing is screwing up the economy by interfering in previously voluntary exchanges in the economy. How do they think they can meet these two goals and the third, unspoken goal?
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His point is that many of them aren't doing research that has anything to do with money. I think about half of the Fed economists do completely unrelated research.
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Yes, that is understood. They like to research labor, entrepreneurial matters, and all sorts of disconnected stuff. Neil Kashkari (sp) is a good example of the type, just watch the eyes!
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