Magnificent Obsession, Part 2

Nobody really understands the economy.

This isn’t exactly a statement that inspires much dissent.

The current meltdown in the financial markets is probably, probably a good thing for someone who’s interested in the line of work I want to tackle.

These are fine, fine times to be a metaphysicist of economics.

(Wouldn’t that just make me a Meta-economist?)

(Nah, that sounds like someone who studies economists.)

A friend of mine, recently, told me something that Scott Adams suggested. Interestingly enough, another friend of mine, long, long time ago, told me that Scott Adams was into the whole “affirmation” thing (yes, that was you) and lately, that stuff has started to make more and more sense.

It’s that obsession thing I keep talking about. For those of you who are not aware of the fact that I do “keep talking about” it only read my blog. Shame on you. Get to know me as a person, dagnabit.

Anyway, back to obsessing about obsessing:

There’s something I want to do. I want to be the premiere thinker on a specific aspect of economics in the world – specifically, on the metaphysics, the underlying background, the fundamental stuff of what the ecnomomy is and the rules under which they opereate. It is my belief – nay, my conviction – that the state of economic knowledge today is commesurate with that of medicine before the days of William Harvey. Just as the absence of any knowledge of knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology, I’m sure that bleeding a patient who had a fever seemed perfectly sensible. Likewise, without any true understanding of what the economy is about, economic policy is likely to be just as helpful.

As I said, these are fine, fine times to study Metanomics. Unfortunately for me, that is not (yet!) my job.

You see, I want it to be my job. But as of right now, however well-informed my ideas are,k however accurately they model reality, no one gives a damn about my thoughts on the subject. (Well, maybe not no one but certainly no one who, given the context, matters.) So, my current job is to make the job of studying the metaphysics of the economy my future job. But that, my friends, is a multi-step process.

And here are the steps:

Ultimately, I want to be recognized as the foremost authority on Metaeconomics.

Before that I need to be recognized as an authority in economics.

That I will achieve by being a significant writer on the economy and economic topics.

But first I need to become a writer.

However, as I indicated earlier, I’m not exactly self-motivated material. To become a writer I must first REALLY, REALLY WANT to be a writer.

And that, my friends, is what my current job is: becoming obsessed with being a writer.