Economists in the spotlight
I took Microeconomics in college and found it pretty dismal, so I never made it on to Macro or any other economics classes. Lately, however, I find myself becoming something of an economist groupie, reading articles and blogs by experts in the field who might be able to shed some light on the financial crisis, sub-prime meltdown, rising unemployment, falling dollar, falling oil prices, deflation, stagflation, and so on. I like James Surowiecki’s concise, clear-headed columns in the New Yorker, and I check out his blog, The Balance Sheet whenever I think of it. Closer to home, I always like to hear UML Professor Bob Forrant’s opinion on things. His refreshing, contratian ideas will keep you on your toes, and I will miss hearing him on the late, lamented morning radio show, Sunrise. An example of his style is agreeing with conservative columnist William Kristol’s statement in the New York Times that economists should come out and admit that they don’t know what they’re doing, that they don’t have a clue how to fix a crisis of this magnitude. He is also critical of Obama’s newly-formed economic team. The good news is that the Sunrise website archives are still accessible and you can hear Bob’s latest podcast along with those of other local financial pundits.
I am also exploring a list of economics and finance blogs that I found in last week’s Boston Globe. So far, I like the macro approach taken by Barry Ritholz in The Big Picture. Maybe I should have given Macroeconomics a chance after all!