Economics for Non-Economists

The Big Picture has Ten Lessons from economist Dr. Jon Llewellyn.  This is a great opportunity to benefit from 35 years of economic experience. 

Here is Dr. Llewellyn’s list:

1. Economic events ('shocks') - seldom produce just one consequence. Usually, the effects ripple on for years.
2. Good economic policies do not guarantee good economic performance; bad economic policies inevitably result in bad performance.
3. It is structural, not demand-side, policies that most influence economic performance over the long term.
4. People respond powerfully to economic incentives.
5. Economic and social policies have to be considered as a whole.
6. Competition is one of the most powerful of forces that motivate the perpetual quest for more efficient ways of doing things.
7. History seldom, if ever, repeats precisely. Economies have the habit of producing new mixtures of circumstances that require new approaches.
8. Complicated economic policies whose rationale is hard to explain usually fail.
9. Some of the biggest and most important, economic issues remain unresolved.
10. Just because professional economists don't always have a confident answer, it does not follow that all proffered solutions have equal validity. Demonstrate why the current fad is wrong and will fail is a valid contribution.

This is a list I plan to keep on file and refer back to time and time again. Each of these points stimulates all kinds of great thinking.

More information is available in Dr. Llewellyn’s article in the Guardian Unlimited.