Social Study of Economists Vice Behavior

My main vice is caffeine, specifically in the form of coffee. I have tried to quit, but until they come out with a caffeine patch, I am afraid that I won't have success. I didn't drink coffee as an undergraduate. I think that is because coffee used to suck. Thanks to the West Coast, Coffee Bean Industrial Complex, otherwise known as Starbucks and Seattle's Best, coffee is much better. In this spirit, I am going to name the 7 Deadly Sins for Economists. This is based on an unscientific survey of my co-workers.

1. Coffee
2. Cigarettes
3. Alcohol
4. Uncontrollable firting with the opposite Sex
5. Text Messaging
6. Procrastination with one's homework
7. Messy Desks

Happy Precedent Day!

Next week is Thanksgiving. Thanks to our annual tradition at work, I will be working most of next week like a maniac. However, some of my co-workers are actually allowed to take next week off. This sucks! I guess my former Chief, "Mr. I don't want to start a Precedent" wasn't able to hold the line with the other staff.

At this rate, I think I will eventually be in charge of everything and fulfill my Machiavellian need to be Queen Economist of the World.

Also, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to thank my co-workers who do the bare minimum at work. Thanks. You might not realize it, but your incompetance helps! Thanks to you and your lack of work ethic and our performance system, I get more of a pay raise! Thank you for being the tail of the normal distribution, and not on the nice end!

Hierarchical Chain of Demand

I firmly believe in the Dilbert Principle. If I were Queen Economist of the World I would create a model and prove that incompetant managers get promoted while the worker bees toil in obscurity. The incompetants also have Phds in Economics and ask
lower order Economists for special tabulations of data. They go on to riches, adoration, and jobs with President Elect Barack Obama. Yes, I am serious this has actually happened. Oooh I am a little bitter tonight!

Actually that's one of the reasons why I decided to go to grad school. I was constantly handling special tabulations of data that people were using to get their PHds in Econ and also published papers in Economics journals. Hell, I still don't understand why I didn't get in to that damn Phd program. I'll get there one day damn you and I will get into a better ranked program! Well FU and the horse you rode in on!!!

Anyway, someone asked me to alter space and time to get a project done. This is one of the new managers outside the "hierarchical chain of demand". I tried to explain the time continum but it didn't work. Hence I am working this weekend to make the world a better place.

Before I graduated in my degree program, they made sure I was comfortable with using the word "hierachical." At work, I try to use it every chance I get. The other Economists get confused by words with more than 3 syllables.

Veterans Day

Veterans,

Thank you for serving the United States and protecting our freedom.