How I have come to view economists, by reference to the cultural greats....

PS:  if anyone thinks I am being unfair, this is Curly on TV last night:

Politicians, who are the people who got us into this budget problem in the first place, should have the kind of incentives to get us out of this problem.

And, for example, you could have a rule whereby while the budget is in deficit that their salaries get cut by 50 per cent and they remain at that level until the budget is back into surplus.

I might go along with it if it was also the rule that economics professors who warn that stagflation is a real and present danger take a 50% drop in income (til it does arrive) if it hasn't yet arrived within 3 years of the warning.