A good economist is like a petulant child. They always ask why, never fully accept an answer, and rarely fully reject one.
Yes, a great economist will have a bunch of other skills – both normative and analytical. However, I’d say the desire to question and keep an open mind provides a necessary condition for any strong performance by an economist.
Yes, this is more filler – I barely have time to read the news right now, let alone post 
So you are getting whatever is in my head this minute 
1 comment
Steven says:
September 11, 2010 at 12:23 am (UTC 12 )
Its a great idea to compare a good economist with a petulant child! But I would also say that a great economists combines characteristics of a petulant child (like never fully accepting an answer) with characteristics of an adult (such as taking responsibility for their own mistakes, don´t blaming others, etc.)!