There is a saying: if in doubt, ask an economist, and do the opposite.There is also consensus among the people inhabiting the real world -the one that is found outside the ivory towers of the economics departments of all US and global Tier 1, 2 and 3 universities - that the only reason the world is currently in its sad, deplorable and deteriorating economic state (which however keeps making the rich richer), is precisely due to these same economists, whose tinkering and experimentation with DSGE models, differential equations, curved lines, and all such things all of which have no real world equivalent, and specifically due to e*con*omists like Greenspan and Bernanke. These two men, both of whom barely have seen the real world for what it is or held a real job outside of their academic outposts, who surround themselves with brown-nosing sycophants and who do the bidding of Wall Street, are the primary reason for the current centrally-planned quagmire.
Which is why we wonder: *is the fact that some 313 economists (and counting) have signed a petition pushing for Janet Yellen (aka Freudian slip "he" if you are the president), and against Larry Summers, sufficient grounds to actually like the outspoken former Harvard head?*
...
And yes, we are obviously kidding: if anyone is stupid enough to think that Summers will be any more hawkish than Yellen, should have their head examined. If anything, Summers will do Wall Street's bidding first and foremost, which of course means much more of the same. It also means much more debt monetization, and the encouragement of even more socialist deficit spending and middle class pillage.
That said, this economist pissing contest sure is entertaining. Well, for some...
The full letter is below:
*PUBLIC POLICY ECONOMISTS' OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF JANET YELLEN AS THE NEXT FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR*
Dear President Obama:
We the undersigned economists, with both academic and practitioner interests in public policy, respectfully urge you to appoint Janet Yellen as the next Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
While there are many reasons to select Janet Yellen for this position, we would like to emphasize three of them.
Dr. Yellen is superbly qualified. She has shown consistently good judgment in all her roles leading our nation’s financial institutions and economic policy, first as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), then as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and now as Vice Chair of the FRB. While leading the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank in 2005, she warned of an impending real estate meltdown as asset prices rose unrealistically. Dr. Yellen was one of the first members of the Federal Open Market Committee to realize that the financial sector’s difficulties in 2007 could cause a major recession, and she worked to focus her colleagues on the problems of the housing sector. Her knowledge of how the Fed sets policy, her understanding of the relationship between monetary policy and economic growth, and her ability to see and propose solutions to emerging economic problems is second to none.
Dr. Yellen is willing to hear multiple points of view and to bring many voices into the policymaking arena. She is not beholden to a single interest group, nor to a single industry. There is less and less room in modern public policymaking, especially at the FRB, for a single leader to dominate discussion. Modern policymaking, in a world filled with uncertainties and complexities, must proceed through cooperation and consensus, led by effective leaders. Dr. Yellen has demonstrated the ability to hear all points of view and then act effectively at the FRB.
In her public speeches and scholarly writings, Dr. Yellen demonstrates a clear and nuanced understanding of labor markets, including why they do not always generate enough jobs. As our weak recovery enters into its fifth year of slow economic growth, a continued commitment to expanding jobs through appropriate policy is a must for the next FRB Chair. Dr. Yellen has demonstrated this commitment and understanding in her recent public speeches and actions at the FRB.
In conclusion, we believe that Janet Yellen is an extremely effective leader who has demonstrated her capacity to work with the other FRB governors and to bring important perspectives of the American people to her leadership and decisions. In our opinion, she is the best possible leader for the Federal Reserve Board at this critical time in our nation’s history.
Below is the full list of most recent signatories as of this complaint, aka the "*echo chamber*:"
Heidi Hartmann
Joyce Jacobsen
Alan S. Blinder
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Lisa M. Lynch
Valerie A. Ramey
Alice M. Rivlin
William M. Rodgers III
Christina D. Romer
David H. Romer
Stephen J. Rose
Jeffrey D. Sachs
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Laura D. Tyson
Caren Grown
Susan Averett
Randy Albelda
Steven Pressman
Toni M. Whited
Julie A. Nelson
Juliet Schor
Robert A. Blecker
Sule Ozler, PhD, and PsyD
Susan Feiner
Karine S. Moe
Shelly Lundberg
Ralph Bradburd
Lori Kletzer
Michael C. Lovell
Elizabeth J. Jensen
Michael Kevane
Mary Huff Stevenson
Mieke Meurs
Joshua Rosenbloom
Deborah M. Figart, PhD
Christopher Kilby
Lalith Munasinghe
Robert J. Shiller
Jon D. Wisman
Anne Villamil
Bevin Ashenmiller
Keren Horn
Pao-Lin Tien
Catherine C. Eckel
Marjorie Flavin
David A. Anderson
Olivia S Mitchell
Siobhan Reilly
Susan Pozo, Ph.D.
Yana van der Meulen Rodgers
Deirdre N. McCloskey
Jennifer Olmsted
Sarah E. West
Roger Sparks
T. D. Stanley
Professor John Rust
Alexander J. Field
Evan Kraft
Denise Hare
Maximilian Auffhammer
Chris Georges
Adhip Chaudhuri
Eleanor Brown
Anne E. Winkler
Brenda Wyss
Dean Baker
Marilyn Power
Kenneth D. West
Lourdes Benería
Mwangi wa Githinji
Robert S. Woodward, Ph.D.
Gregory N. Price, Ph.D
Eileen Appelbaum
Kimberly Christensen
Torsten Schmidt
Dania V. Francis
Peter Hans Matthews
Michele I. Naples
Nancy Scannell, Ph.D.
Diana Strassmann
Joseph Persky
Peter Skott
Peter Hess
David Danning
William Van Lear
Myra H Strober
Anne M. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Gerald Friedman
John Miller
John Schmitt
Saul H. Hymans
John Weeks
Vivian Ho
Dr. Janet Spitz
Scott E Page
Nancy E. Rose
Carolyn Sherwood Call, Ph.D.
Peter B. Meyer
Professor Teresa Ghilarducci
Barbara R. Bergmann
Sanford M. Jacoby
Professor Maria S. Floro
Joni Hersch
David Gleicher
Robert Buchele
Fabio Schiantarelli
Jane D'Arista
Ethan Kaplan
Marie Christine Duggan
Roberto Veneziani
Bijou Yang Lester, Ph.D
Paul Gertler
K. K. Fung
Rachel Cleetus, Ph.D.
Dr. David Laibman
Maurice Obstfeld
Spencer J. Pack
Elissa Braunstein
Michael Reich
Elaine McCrate
Jean Kimmel
Andrew K. Rose
David I. Levine
Linda Kamas
Paul A. Johnson
Clair Brown
Michael D. Goldberg
Michael L. Lahr
Karen Smith Conway
Aaron Pacitti
Andrea L. Ziegert
David A. Jaeger
Harry J. Holzer
Dr. Ted P. Schmidt
Robert Pollin
Ebru Kongar
Alicia H. Munnell
Judith Robinson
Randall P. Ellis
Arthur MacEwan
Thomas Michl
Kathy Hayes
Professor Catherine Lynde
Ulla Grapard
Matías Vernengo
Anne Mayhew
Jenny Keil, Ph.D.
Dr. Julie Heath ?Director, Economics Center and
Martin Ravallion
Nancy Folbre
Mark A. Price
Ida A. Mirzaie, PhD
Ann Owen
Thomas E. Weisskopf
Christopher Magee
Michael Sattinger
Kevin P. Gallagher, PhD
Andrew F Newman
Lynn Duggan
Dr Leanne Ussher
Marcellus Andrews
Julie K. Smith
Russell Williams
James A. Wilcox
Charles Barone
Amitava Krishna Dutt
David R. Howell
Thomas E. Lambert, PhD
Jennifer Cohen
Chris Tilly
Mohamed El-Hodiri
John R. Harris
Blair Sandler
Paul Swanson
Eric Nilsson
Gary Solon
William James Adams
Nina Banks
Thomas L. Hungerford
Dan Owens
Ross M. Starr
Gerald Epstein
Richard A. Miller
Bronwyn H. Hall
Jasmin Ansar
Ron Baiman
Sylvia A. Allegretto, PhD
Dr. Howard Stein (Ph.D. Economics)
Monique Morrissey
Samuel Rosenberg
Jonathan S. Leonard
Caitlin Knowles Myers
Dr. Mathew Forstater
Antonio Callari
Reza Fazeli,PhD
Dr. Margaret Ray
Frank Thompson. Ph.D.
David Gold
Heidi Shierholz, Ph.D.
Esther Redmount
Bisakha Sen, Ph.D
Fidan Ana Kurtulus
Prof. Bryan Snyder
William Brainard
Kathryn Anderson
Ray Fair
Farida C. Khan
Robin Hahnel
Richard E. Bilsborrow
Dr. William Barclay
J. Barkley Rosser, Jr.
Paul Wolfson
Nicole Simpson
Mary C. King, Professor
John Luke Gallup
Jeffrey O'Hara
Laurence Shute, Ph.D.
Jesse Rothstein
John P. Bonin
Gary A. Dymski
Prof. Richard Parker
Michael Meeropol
Kranti Mulik
Barry Shelley
Tim Koechlin
Rick McGahey
Michael Woodford
Gabriel Mathy
James Hamilton
Günseli Berik
Eirik Evenhouse
Gail Blattenberger
Steve Cohn
Andrew I. Kohen
Wendy Rayack
David A. Belsley
Jessica Gordon Nembhard
Candace Howes
Professor Ilene Grabel
Phanindra V. Wunnava
Mark Setterfield
Carmen Diana Deere
Professor Stephany Griffith-Jones
Martha L. Olney
Peter Philips, Ph.D.
Eiman Zein-Elabdin
Barry Herman
David Kiefer
Michael J. Roberts
Don Goldstein
M. V. Lee Badgett
Eric Verhoogen
Andra Ghent
Dilip Mookherjee
Jean Shackelford
James E. Anderson
Lawrence Mishel
Menzie D. Chinn
Gerard Roland
Jonathan Cogliano
Dorene Isenberg
Kathy Baylis
Carl Bonham. Executive Director
Gautham Sethi
Larry Sawers, Professor
Assoc. Prof John Golden
Scott A. Weir
Brent Kramer
Amanda Bayer
Gavin Wright
Heather L.R. Tierney, Ph.D.
JIm Campen,
Catherine Wolfram
Douglas V. Orr
Mark Gertler
Pete Klenow
Lorenzo Garbo
Steve Parker
Dan Kovenock
Roger Even Bove
Douglas H. Frank
Robert Haveman
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr
Kade Finnoff
Benjamin E. Hermalin
K.C. Fung
James Tober
Dr. Jeanne Koopman
Ken Kuttner
JK Kapler
Robin L. Bartlett
Miguel D. Ramirez
Susanto Basu
Peter Gottschalk
Marta Murray-Close
Can Erbil
Leigh A. Riddick
Yunsun Huh
Karen Pfeifer
Professor John Leahy
Michael Ash
Andrew Zimbalist
Charles Engel
Edward Miguel
Lucia F. Dunn
Lara Shore-Sheppard
Martha Campbell
Catherine L. Mann
Andrew Reschovsky
Lloyd J. Dumas,
Rick Eichhorn
Mark Thoma
Elizabeth Savoca Reported by Zero Hedge 5 days ago.