The Great Recession of 2008-09 - America's worst slump since the 1930s - wiped out 8.4 million U.S. jobs, caused 3 million home foreclosures, bankrupted multitudes of businesses, erased trillions of investor wealth, and wreaked other painful suffering.
It happened because conservatives in Washington relaxed policing of Wall Street banks. Those banks "bundled" millions of shaky mortgages into securities to be sold to investors. Rating agencies were induced to classify the bundles as AAA, the highest category. When the bundles collapsed, dominoes began falling and much of the economy toppled. President Obama was forced to take extreme measures to prevent catastrophe.
This historic nightmare raises a fundamental question: Why can't experts see growing economic problems and correct them before they drag the nation into disaster?
Last week, Princeton University economist Angus Deaton won the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on poverty and aid programs. MarketWatch commented that the event is sure to trigger protests that economics isn't a real science and shouldn't be honored. However, it added:
"If the financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we aren't paying enough attention to how economics is done and how it can be improved. Economics, on its own, is hugely important. Given how little we actually know about the economy, how complex economic systems are, and how important they are to our everyday lives, it's imperative that we actually put economics on a pedestal."
Essentially, the economy governs everyone's life. It affects your income - or lack thereof. It helps decide who's rich, who's poor and who survives. Successful economies make nations superpowers, and unsuccessful ones leave countries in poverty.
Anything that can be done to upgrade economics into a stronger science, better able to secure prosperity for all, would be a blessing to humanity.