SomeDam Poet writes poems—some might say doggerel—almost daily. They are consistently witty and wise.
Here are his/her thoughts on economists (with apologies to the great economists who understand that the classroom is not a factory or a field and that children are not units of production or widgets):
“Economists are like psychics”
Economists are like psychics,
This cannot be denied.
Cuz if, by chance, they get it right,
It’s greatly AMPLIFIED!!
But mostly, they just get it wrong,
And utter not a word
For them to actually point this out
Would really be unheard.
And when their goof’s so blatant
They really can’t ignore it,
They simply claim they “found a flaw”
And “makeup will restore it”
And another:
“What if?”
What if false were true?
What if night were day?
What if economists knew
About the things they say?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I have called the problem of excessive influence by economists the ” econometric turn”in education,not nearly as poetic, but I am sure SomeDamn Poet can link this phrase up to worms and other things turning.
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A Dr. Seuss book on Ed Deform from A to Zed is the thing I’d like to see from
SomeDAM Ted.
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Please, Diane, I would like to know the names of great economists who understand that the classroom is not a factory and children are not widgets.
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Helen Ladd of Duke is a great economist who understands that the school is not a factory. So is Jesse Rothstein of the University of California at Berkeley.
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Can NPE talk to them and get their opinions on the flaws of VAM?
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Mathcs,
I have posted many times on the statistical errors of VAM. Google Audrey Amrein-Beardsley. She is a VAM expert with a blog called VAMboozled. Read the posts on this blog that cite her work.
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Economists are rewarded for research distortions that can be used to rationalize big business agendas. The profession as a whole, does not have a set of ethical standards. University accrediting boards have negligible effect in enforcing their rhetorical standards prescribing integrity.
University economists, who conduct research that benefits society at large, are more likely to suffer adverse consequences. At at least 250 universities, the Koch Bros. have influence (“Koch Pollution on Campus” -Greenpeace 2015). The Economics Department at Florida State University, provides the most egregious example of Koch clout on campus. There’s new organization created by the Center for Media and Democracy, that can be found at UnKochMyCampus.org.
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Some say, economists are like meteorologists: they try to use science to analyze and predict something for which we don’t have enough science yet. Except, nobody is sure, we will ever have enough science for economy.
It doesn’t help to view economics as an objective science when the economists themselves often categorize themselves and their research as liberal or conservative.
Despite or because of this, economists usually are paid significantly more than scientists on college campuses.
We do love to listen to what economists say if their research support our views, like Piketty’s on divergence of the rich and the poor. And we do hate to listen to them if their theories are used to exploit us, like Milton Friedman’s free market and general neoliberal ideas.
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Relative to the topics mentioned in the weidimate post, Friedman’s opinions were speculative and lacked Picketty’s depth of research. Truman asked for a one-armed economist, citing his irritation with economists who said, “On the one hand, and….”.
Nobel laureates, on occasion, cite opinions blinded by ideology, with scant, if any, evidence to back them. Spewing dogma is not science. Picketty, on the subject of concentrated wealth is a scientist who extrapolates trends. Friedman, on the subject of free markets, was an ideologue.
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“economists are like meteorologists: they try to use science to analyze and predict ”
Exactly
They try to predict when and where meteors will hit.
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“They try to predict,
when and where meteors will hit.”
Exactly because of this,
We keep them around college campuses.
(Sry 🙂 )
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