Professor Terrence McDonough:

I certainly would not want to be accused of damaging the employment prospects of members of my profession at the Department of Finance or, for that matter, my graduate students. My contention is simply that the economics profession, as it is currently constituted, works with models of the economy which are closed, that is, they assume a closed system. It is a bit like pouring water into a bowl. What happens to the water in the bowl? It reaches its own level and is, thereafter, calm. If one disturbs it, it returns to its previous level. It is not a very good basis for talking about the real world, which is an open system in which water is subject to tides, wind, waves and, occasionally, the mother of all storms. If that is one's model, one will not predict a storm.