http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/alan-tudge/ Alan was elected as the federal Liberal member for the Victorian seat of Aston in 2010. He also serves on the House of Representatives Standing Committee for Education and Employment. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/believe-it-or-not-economists-have-been-wrong-before/ In this country we are blessed with some outstanding economists.  But can they be collectively wrong?  The Gillard Government thinks not. They claim that no economist is backing the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan, which therefore proves that it is the wrong policy.  Case closed. Gillard’s claim is false: there are economists who back alternative approaches to her carbon tax including Nobel laureates and Reserve Bank board members.  However, even when there is a massive consensus among economists, history shows that they can be wildly off the mark. A prominent example of this was the letter that 364 economists signed against Margaret Thatcher’s Budget in 1981.  Thatcher broke economic orthodoxy by cutting borrowings with aggressive fiscal measures in order to make it easier to control monetary policy and get inflation under control. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alan Tudge) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/believe-it-or-not-economists-have-been-wrong-before/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/believe-it-or-not-economists-have-been-wrong-before/#item6254 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:48:31 +0000 Alan Tudge | Author bios | The Punch