Where are the economists?

Posted at 7:00 AM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Media

Conservative and liberal groups don't agree on much, but they agree on this: TV did a very questionable job covering the economic stimulus bill signed by President Obama last week.

The liberal Media Matters for America said of the 681 people who appeared as guests on cable news and Sunday TV talk shows, only 6 percent, were economists, said the Associated Press.

While Media Matters didn't survey the network evening news shows, the conservative Media Research Center did, and found that only 13 percent of those interviewed were economists.

The rest were the usual suspects -- reporters, political "experts" and talking heads.

The producer of ABC's This Week said the guest selections mirror the need for news shows to have verbal battles between contrasting viewpoints.

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Comments (9)

If there's one thing we've learned over the course of this financial "crisis" or whatever the current term is, it's that economists can give you four sides of every issue and still be wrong. I've lost any faith in the predictive power of economists. The only reason to listen to them is to hear options on what could happen, but rarely what the result will actually be.

Posted by Jefferson | February 23, 2009 7:37 AM

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I think like any issue -- especially the economy -- the key is hearing as many INFORMED people as possible, to be able to understand the situation.

Let's just say it's more valuable than uninformed opinions from people who are good at turning a phrase.

Posted by Bob Collins | February 23, 2009 7:59 AM

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Who needs information and context from people who are actually qualified to provide same? That's no fun. Keep the bread and circuses coming.

Posted by Bob | February 23, 2009 8:04 AM

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Come on Bob(s), I know you've heard all the jokes about economists.

How many were right about the mortgage crisis? How many predicted this financial meltdown?

I'm not saying I want to hear "the usual suspects" -that's why I listen to MPR all day :) (usually rife with economists) - I'm simply saying that the lack of economists doesn't bother me because I'm tired of hearing all the possibilities, we've all been hearing the possibilities, I want to know what is going to happen. I'm tired of possibilities.

If you (economists, media) don't have an answer, then just report on the facts as they progress. It's okay to say "I don't know". The possibilities have been covered.

Posted by Jefferson | February 23, 2009 8:28 AM

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Jefferson - unfortuantely "I don't know" isn't 'news'.

I have come to the opinion that there are simply too many people talking, regardless of who they are. We're looking at so many opinions, that we're not getting a clear sense of direction. We chose our president. How about we let him and the people he chose to act on the problem actually act and stop talking? If I remember correctly, there's some old saying about open mouths making poor work?

Posted by Tonya | February 23, 2009 9:31 AM

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Agreed.

Posted by Jefferson | February 23, 2009 9:47 AM

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@Jefferson
"How many were right about the mortgage crisis? How many predicted this financial meltdown? "

Many, many economists predicted it. But "We" did not listen. They use words that most of us don't understand, so not really pointing fingers about the listening.

Economists are not on TV or radio that often. Finance, financial, experts are on all the time.

Posted by BJ | February 23, 2009 11:41 AM

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http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/02/wheres_my_money_idiot.php

"Many many."

Posted by Jefferson | February 23, 2009 12:31 PM

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Once again, the fact that "mainstream" media consistently fails to provide accurate information regarding complex issues is a matter of history, as is their failure to look beyond consensus. I'm not interested in hearing a lot of voices, I just want the ones that know what they're talking about... and I have to say I frequently don't find those voices in the consensus media.

It has been annoying over the last couple decades to see and hear free market cheerleaders constantly being passed off as economists. Many economists looked at our economy years ago and saw a mosaic of domino's, but you didn't see or hear them unless you went way outside the mainstream media. Particularly annoying has been the excuse that no attention was being paid- at the time- to these economists, or the information they provided because it was pessimistic to do so, as if we could indefinitely forestall recessions by simply being optimistic.

Posted by Paul | February 23, 2009 1:00 PM

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