[bokonist]

Keep in mind that the mainstream, professional economists did in fact lead the economy of the cliff. So mainstream views of economics are not exactly error-free. Blogs, reddit, etc. are full of populist myths. But the blind squirrel occaisionally finds some nuts. Or an elephant. The CPI is the elephant.

[maukdaddy]

Economists did not lead the economy off a cliff, the financial firms did. Big difference.

[bokonist]

The economists at the Fed set the rules of the game (too big to fail, lender of last resort, Greenspan put) that rewarded increasing levels of irresponsibility over the last two decades. Firms have one directive: make money. The Fed has the directive of setting the rules so that financial firms make money from being productive, rather than living off the taxpayer. The Fed failed at this.