"Economists do it with models" "Pure Econometricians do it only if they can identify it. Applied Econometricians do it even if they can't." "Some Economists do it both discretely AND continuously."
Clever Economic Poetry "Economists are gentle men, with neither sword nor pistol. They walk along most daintily, because their balls are crystal!"
Since You Asked An economist is a highly trained professional paid to work with pen and paper to guess wrong about the economy. An econometrician is a highly trained professional paid to use super-computers and advanced multivariate statistical modeling to guess wrong about the economy...
Economic Laws Galore... Bentley's Second Law of Economics: The only thing more dangerous than an economist is an amateur economist! Berta's Economic Corollary: "The only thing more dangerous than an amateur economist is a highly regarded and respected professional economist!!"
A famous economic forecaster was known to have an horseshoe prominently displayed above the door frame of his office. Asked what it was for, he replied that it was a good luck charm that helped his forecasts. "But do you believe in that superstition?" he was asked. To which he indignantly repried, "Of course not, I am a scientist!" "But then, why do you keep it?" "Well," he said, "let me assure you that it works whether you believe in it or not!"
For The Pseudo-Educated Snobs Among Us: "Mathematics brought rigor to Economics. Unfortunately, it also brought mortis."
When two guys are out for a stroll, how can you tell who's the economist? He's the one walking randomly...
So just to sum up the above a bit, we have our politicians, who seem to know not much about anything important except how to feather their own nests refering to economists, who are really only guessing, what to do about the economy, which is in a crisis of their own making. Well that's great - now we can all sleep soundly in our beds knowing that we are in secure hands or are we ?