What Makes a Economist Good?

I sometimes wonder what type of economist is advising our country's leaders.  Especially when we take into account the following statement that was written in Things that are Seen and Things that are not Seen nearly 200 years ago by M. Frederic Bastiat.

" ...the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil........When, therefore, a man absorbed in the effect which is seen, has not yet learned to discern those which are not seen, he gives way to fatal habits, not only by inclination, but by calculation."

Bastiat goes on to state that their are only two ways to learn - experience and foresight.  Because we are not choosing to use good judgement and foresight by planing appropriately on a national level, I am afraid that we will have to learn the lessons more brutally; by experiences.  All I can do is plan within my own family and community for the upcoming events caused by the bad economic choices we have made nationally.

June's Title Swap

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
Teach Your Children Well by Christine Allison
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall
Motherstyles by Janet Penley
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Remarkable Soul of a Woman by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Rework by Jason Fried