Cooke and Keynes and our wonderful world

"Don't know much about history / Don't know much biology…" So sang Sam Cooke in What a Wonderful World. But when I sing his song in the shower, I replace that first line with "Don't know much about economy". It rhymes, and it's true because I really don't understand how something as illogical as the economy works. And I doubt very much if anyone else does, either. Sure, there are people who try to explain the economy, but all they do is use numbers to support their theories and they leave out anything that contradicts their version of reality. These people are called economists.

Because so many economists got so many things so spectacularly wrong in the past 12 months, the Financial Times is now asking, What is the point of economists? Wonderful question. 

Actually, not all economists are pointless. My colleague at Business Spotlight, Ian McMaster, is an economist and his "Economics for amateurs" series is an heroic attempt to help people like me to understand how economics works. John Maynard Keynes was another English economist. "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" said Keynes. Wonderful statement.

Keynes also said the most sensible thing anyone has ever said about anything: "In the long run, we are all dead." I was reminded of that recently when someone asked me for my opinion on investments. I said that I've invested in a fund for years but that I've stopped looking to see how it's doing since Lehman Brothers collapsed. My hope is that the fund won't do too badly "in the long run", I added. But I could almost hear the words "Don't know much about economy" in my head as I said it. Wonderful song.

Word family:

economy (noun) the production and consumption of goods and services of a community or country
economics (noun): the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services 
economist (noun): a specialist in economics
economical (adjective): careful with money and in making the best use of resources