Economists and politicians

A fine rant from Larry Kotlikoff.

The tricky part, of course, is what to do about it. You don't really want politicians to not have economists around. That would just make things worse. One hopes that the threat of professional ridicule, which is essentially the tonic that Kotlikoff is administering, serves to moderate politically motivated shading by economists who advise candidates.

Of course, as Kotlikoff notes, the government's usual models for projecting the effects of tax reforms are nothing to be very happy about either.