Observations

Just got back from Barnes & Noble to pick up my reserved copy of The Logic of Life by Tim Harford. Two quick observations...

#1 - I am never marrying a bad driver.

#2 - People don't know what the heck an economist is.

As I was driving merrily home, I came to a four-way stop. I was about to take my turn when all of a sudden, a giant, lifted black Dodge Ram comes roaring through the intersection -- WITHOUT STOPPING AT ALL!!! I slammed my brakes and shot an angry glare at the driver...and then dropped my mouth. The girl was gorgeous. It was at this moment in time that I realized I could never marry her. Her driving was terrible. And so, instead of proposing to her, I just cruised off into the sunset, having learned a very important lesson for the day.

Before I met the gorgeously terrible driver, I had quickly stopped at the Issaquah B&N. As I was leaving, a woman looked at my purchase with curiosity and asked what I had bought. "The Logic of Life," I kindly replied. I continued by telling her it was written by Mr. Harford, an economist. And at this, her friendly countenance quickly soured. "Oh, that's not my field of interest..." I tried to explain to her the premise, but she only looked bewildered and said something about how she thought economists just dealt with the economy and money and stuff

Look, I know that "economist" and "economy" share a lot of the same letters, but we deal with a lot more than just "the economy"!!!! (Oh, and if you're wondering, we are not responsible for the current state of the economy. Thanks for asking.) Economics deals with almost everything, but it ultimately boils down to human behavior and decision-making. Why does stuff happen? We answer that, and we like to use graphs and math. We're very similar to pyschologists, they just attack things from a different vantage point. Please read Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner and you'll see what I mean.

We are so much more than knowledgeable folks who deal with the economy...