Blame-storming

Today, in his Times column, Anatale Kaletsky took the opportunity to attack the Economists

In the search for the “guilty men” responsible for the near-collapse of the global economy, one obvious group of scapegoats has escaped blame: the economists.

However, he doesn't mean the thick economists, like him, who write for newspapers with declining circulations.

By “economists” I do not mean the talking heads (myself included) employed by the media and financial institutions to “explain”, usually after the event, why share prices or currencies have gone up or down.

He means the clever ones wot win prizes:

What I mean by “economists” are the academic theorists who win Nobel prizes, or dream of winning them.

According to Anatole, these theorists misled bankers and politicians into becoming excessively greedy:

Consider why the bankers, politicians, accountants and regulators behaved in the egregious ways that they have. It may be true that all bankers are greedy, all politicians venal, all regulators blind and all accountants stupid. But such personal failings do not explain their behaviour in the past few years.

Has Anatole ever read an article written by a Nobel prize-winning economist. To say the least, these pieces aren't particularly accessible.

Personally, I'd prefer to blame you, Anatole, and your ludicrous column.