Economists Calling All Angels PERSPECTIVES

PERSPECTIVES Todd Hirsch Economists calling all angels ack in the ‘90s, Canadian the past 50 years. He said they failed conference, we had brazenly referred songstresses Jane Siberry and — failed! — to predict what happened to low-income Canadians as “the bot- B k.d. lang sang a hauntingly in 2008, and offer little help in get- tom quintile” as if they were a scientif- beautiful duet about the beauty and ting the global economy out of this ic category. We needed a reminder that pain of life, and all its unanswerable current mess. Considering the audi- we are talking about the lives of questions. “Calling all angels, walk me ence, this is a serious statement. The Canadians and their families. through this one, don’t leave me average attendee was probably The tricky part, of course, is know- alone. Calling all angels: we’re trying, around 45 years old, which implies ing how to raise up the incomes, the we’re hoping…but we’re not sure how that most everyone in the room had skills and the literacy levels of those this goes.” either studied macroeconomic theory Canadians most vulnerable to falling Little did they know that they or worked under its assumptions for through the economic cracks. could have been singing about the about 25 years. With close to a hun- Handouts aren’t the solution, and gov- Canadian economy in 2010. dred economists in the room, that ernment programs have been hit-and- Near the end of August, close to a works out to 2,500 years of cumula- miss. But the free market has failed hundred economists from across the tive study and work on a theoretical these people. Whatever the solution, country met for our annual summer framework we were just told was use- I’m sure it will start by us not referring conference. Over a day and a half, we less. Ouch. to low-income Canadians as “the bot- heard presentations and keynote tom quintile.” speeches on topics ranging from pen- he second sobering event came Siberry and Lang called on the sion reform to health care. Phrases like T near the end of the conference. angels for guidance. But another “income quintiles” and “multifactor After a full day of pondering a writer, one from ancient times, also productivity” were used liberally. We double-dip recession and whether wrote about angels. He penned some munched on scallops and roast beef, monetary policy would be sufficient to verses to his friends in Corinth, renewed old acquaintances and made jump-start the GDP, one delegate stood Greece. To paraphrase liberally, Paul new ones. There was much laughter, up to pose a question. She essentially said: “If I’m an economist and can levity and lively debate. asked: “Does any of this matter if low- speak with the tongues of men and But two events dropped a sobering income Canadians are losing ground angels, but have no compassion for tone over the party. by the day? When senior executive the least fortunate among us, I’m The first was a speech by a highly incomes are triple what they were a nothing but a crashing cymbal. All my revered economist from the Swiss- few years ago, but the best they can talk is useless noise.” based Bank for International offer their lowest-income employees is The economy is in uncharted ter- Settlements. (Don’t worry if you’ve a 25 percent cut in wages, do we even ritory. The US is in real trouble, and never heard of it — only economists care?” In my opinion, it was the wisest without question Canada will be really have.) He suggested that the US question of the conference. affected. Some jobs may never come economy was still in serious trouble, This wasn’t a call to crush the cap- back and many more of us may fall on and that by no means is it they out of italist system — this is a group of free- some very hard times. Calling all the woods yet. market economists, after all. But it was angels! We economists need your help He also trashed the general equi- a sombre reminder that economists’ because we’re not sure how this goes. librium models and theoretical frame- main preoccupation should really be works that have formed the the advancement of all Canadians, not Todd Hirsch is the Calgary-based senior foundation of macroeconomics for just the statistical average. During the economist for ATB Financial. 80 OPTIONS POLITIQUES OCTOBRE 2010.

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