Government and Economic Development

There are many jokes about economists and most economics students will know at least a few. Economists often laugh at themselves as well and for a period of time the annual meeting of the American Economic Association set up a talk show to give economists the chance to let off steam and mock the profession. One of the jokes goes like this: a physicist, a chemist and an economist are adrift on an isolated island. While sitting at the shore, they find a can of food that floated in from the sea. On discussing how to open the can, the physicist suggests that they can use pressure exerted from rocks to break it open. The chemist chimes in and suggests that they can use heat from a wood fire to heat the can, so it expands and bursts. Finally, the economist gives a solution, “suppose we had a can opener…”.