Sunday, November 22, 2009

Most Important Job in the Country

There are many jobs in this world:

  • Doctor
  • Lawyer
  • Stock Broker
  • Insurance Sales
  • Etc.

We will argue that the most important job in the country is:

  • Manager of the Economy

and why we rarely get anybody qualified for this job.

As explained here, the most important issue to voters, or the majority of the population, is money. This money can only be derived from a prosperous economy. Therefore, the person who can best manage the economy, will be the person who brings the most money, prosperity, wealth and highest standard of living to the population. This is what the majority values the most.

The person who has ultimate control of the economy and who is therefore the Manager of the Economy is the Prime Minister or President.

The problem is that most political leaders have no education or experience in Economics or business. Some would argue that politicians don’t need formal education in economics to understand it or to manage it. They can learn it outside of school or formal education. If this is the case, why do doctors, lawyers, engineers, nurses, programmers, etc., need formal education to do their jobs? Why can’t they learn their fields outside of school? Everybody advocates universities and higher learning. Why? Why bother wasting so many billions on universities if you can learn your field outside of formal education? Maybe we should shut down all of the universities.

Some people argue that political leaders don’t need to understand economics because they have economic advisors. If this is sufficient, then can I prescribe drugs if I have doctors advising me? Does it matter that I don't know what they are talking about when they use words like cortisone, hemoglophagia or dupuytren disease? Will you take the drugs that I prescribe to you, if I have doctors advising me but I have the final say on the prescription? If not, why not? Why is it illegal for me to do this?

If I have no medical training or experience, will I know which doctors are the best to pick as advisors? If not, why not?

Why is it illegal for me to give legal advice even if I have lawyers giving me advice?

Why is it illegal for me to sell stocks even if I have stock brokers giving me advice?

Does it matter if the Manager of the Economy doesn't understand Comparative Advantage, Economies of Scale, Oligopolies, Collusion, Diminishing Marginal Utility, Keynesian versus Friedman and Surplus on the Demand & Supply curves?

When an economy is sick, it needs somebody to prescribe a cure. Is it okay to have a Nurse be the Manager of the Economy if she has economic advisors? If not, why not?

Then why do we usually have lawyers become Manager of the Economy?

To manage somebody’s health as a doctor, to give legal advice as a lawyer, to sell stocks as a stock broker or to sell insurance, you must take numerous courses, pass numerous exams, and get licensed by the government before you are allowed to do your job. Before you are allowed to drive a car, you need to take lessons, pass a test and get licensed.

Why do our political leaders get to do the job of Managing the Economy when they don’t take any courses or pass any exams on Economics? If it can be rationalized and argued that they can, then why can’t you sell stocks without taking numerous courses, passing numerous exams and getting licensed first?

Hence, we think that most political leaders are unqualified to manage the economy. They might do an okay job because they might listen to their economic advisors. They might do a poor job because they don’t listen to their advisors or because they don’t know how to pick economic advisors. Most of the time, these leaders could be doing a better job if they were qualified to be Manager of the Economy. They would be more qualified if they took numerous courses, exams and got licensed like the rest of us, before being allowed to do that job.


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