Page 32 - The Principle of Economics

30 PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
“Let’s switch. I’ll make the policy, you implement it, and he’ll explain it.”
work in order to help formulate labor-market policies. Economists at the Depart- ment of Justice help enforce the nation’s antitrust laws.
Economists are also found outside the administrative branch of government. To obtain independent evaluations of policy proposals, Congress relies on the ad- vice of the Congressional Budget Office, which is staffed by economists. The Fed- eral Reserve, the quasi-governmental institution that sets the nation’s monetary policy, employs hundreds of economists to analyze economic developments in the United States and throughout the world. Table 2-1 lists the Web sites of some of these agencies.
The influence of economists on policy goes beyond their role as advisers: Their research and writings often affect policy indirectly. Economist John Maynard Keynes offered this observation:
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.
Table 2-1
WEB SITES. Here are the Web sites for a few of the government agencies that are responsible for collecting economic data and making economic policy.
Department of Commerce Bureau of Labor Statistics Congressional Budget Office Federal Reserve Board
www.doc.gov www.bls.gov www.cbo.gov www.federalreserve.gov