Prevailing Problems

Snippets on radio and television report changes in government borrowing or the exchange rate. A scripted authority, sometimes identified as an economist, repeats the statement of the presenter, presumably to lend some importance to the data. This information usually is the work of statisticians. In normal times, if there is such a thing, economists tinker with taxation suggestions or predictions about the exchange rate. Bigger issues that go to the heart of society have an economic aspect and could benefit from more concern by economists. Their potential contribution to understanding and to action is insufficiently recognised. They cannot be the day-to-day concern of the economic adviser. They boil away incessantly.