Able Quote by Tim Harford

If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.

— John Maynard Keynes

Economists have allowed themselves to walk into a trap where we say we can forecast, but no serious economist thinks we can.

— Tim Harford

You may scoff at the Tooth Fairy if you like. But the Tooth Fairy's approach has gotten more politicians elected than any economist's analysis.

— Thomas Sowell

Show people tend to treat their finances like their dentistry. They assume the people who handle it know what they are doing.

— Dick Cavett

We have this culture of financialization. People think they need to make money with their savings rather with their own business. So you end…

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb

If you're an economist and you're asked to predict what something is going to be like 50 years from now? It's going to be guesswork.

— Richard Harris

Show people tend to treat their finances like their dentistry. They assume the man handling it knows what he is doing.

— Dick Cavett

most economists, like doctors, are reluctant to make predictions, and those who make them are seldom accurate. The economy, like the human body, is…

— Alice Rivlin

People don't realize that we cannot forecast the future. What we can do is have probabilities of what causes what, but that's as far…

— Alan Greenspan

Economists are about as useful as astrologers in predicting the future (and, like astrologers, they never let failure on one occasion diminish certitude on…

— Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr

I believe in analysis and not forecasting.

— Nicolas Darvas

If you just heard 90 percent of dentists recommend something, it's too statistical. Nine out of 10 says: Well, it's just virtually everyone. It…

— Frank Luntz