Economics – An Apology

Mainstream economics, it has been claimed, has failed rather miserably in recent years and needs an overhaul. True, most economists did not see the financial crises of 2007-2008 coming and, therefore, failed to warn against them. Queen Elizabeth had a point when she posed her blunt question to a distinguished – and stunned! – group of economists she had  summoned: Why did none of you foresee this?

The Queen’s question could be answered in two ways.