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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (75838)	10/8/2004 4:30:10 PM
From: SBHX	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793887

Nowadays if you were to major in economics you better be very good in mathematics. I'm sure economics PhDs have their own required skills, but this is one of the softest of the soft sciences, and Rocket Scientist PhDs (your term) may not think that highly of them. (But no doubt that feeling is mutual). There are clearly good economists and bad economists. A golden rule for contrarians looking for a stock market bottom is when all the country's foremost economic thinkers get in a room and declare that the financial world is collapsing and things will get worse, much worse. But enough of that. :) Bush is often painted by his critics with many evils, but I think this is a person that is often underestimated by his foes and in the past he seems to even use that to his advantage. Despite what his critics or you and I think about how smart or dumb he is, GWB rose to become the leader of the most powerful country in the world through the process laid out by the framers of the US constitution. Now, by almost all measure, this is a great career accomplishment, and careerwise, he is no doubt more successful than you or I are today. To cast aspersion on his qualities or abilities today is to question the ability of the framers of the US constitutional democracy, because if GWB the unworthy became president by some shady shenanigans, then clearly, the US electoral system itself is unworthy. Is this what you are trying to say? <----> Actually, Mary, I don't mind your wish to switch topics, but on the subject of economic policy, what I am trying to really say is that often major tinkering with the levers in the effort to improve the free market system is not without perils. Many of the socialist and liberal policies employed in the countries that Kerry likes (such as France) have resulted in endemic structural unemployment that are unbelievable by US standards. If in the effort to do some good, you end up crippling the system, does that make sense? And the danger is real because you have practically all the countries of europe (other than UK) to look to for guidance on the true cost of overtinkering with free market in favor of socialistic economic policies.