And The Prize for the Worst Economist Goes To …

Well, it’s hard to choose these days. The resurgence of Keynesian economics shows how fragile and insecure economists are in general. They are, of course, important exceptions. But while I have a special dark place in my economist heart for the New York Times‘ columnist Paul Krugman, I think today the prize should to economist Mark Zandi, of Moody’s Economy.com.

Zandi is constantly quoted in the media as the go-to-person on what do for the economy to recover. For instance, how many stories have we read in the Washington Post saying “nearly all economists support the stimulus,” with for only evidence a Zandi quote. Many. Who cares that Zandi’s model shows that the stimulus is working because the answer is built into the equations of Keynesian models. Here is a job for an economist: Take apart and demolish these reality-defying macro models once and for all.

The media loves him and as a result there are countless quotes of him out there about how we need more government intervention into the economy to jump start the economy, how passing the $800 billion stimulus bill would create jobs, how more spending programs are yet still needed.

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