Mark Twain famously wrote, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”
Some lessons, particularly the painful ones, only come through direct often uncomfortable experience…in today’s environment, it could be like trying to make sense of the current economic landscape.
If it makes you feel any better, economists struggle to understand too. Below are six quotes to keep in mind the next time you hear an economic forecast.
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
“Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
“An economist is someone who sees something working in practice and wonders if it will work in theory.” – Ronald Reagan
“Economists have predicted nine out of the last five recessions.” – Paul Samuelson
“If all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.” – George Bernard Shaw
“An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.” – Laurence Peter
-Paul R. Rossi, CFA