Notes on Economics - Economists and Entrepreneurship

From the undeveloped note file, here are a few more, about the supposed experts on this subject and about entrepreneurship:

The inherent nature of economists to be "cautiously optimistic" is lamentable, but perhaps understandable. Too bad the jargon and models they use are so confusing. For one example, it would help if economists could tell us what the rates and balance should be for inflation and unemployment. An ideal might be prices that never increased and full employment, but what is realistically hopeful?

Fed Chair Greenspan, a libertarian, praised "derivatives" and said they should not be regulated, because they freely result in risk being transferred to those best able to handle it, but now says that greed of the people using derivatives is what caused the crisis. Greed will always be with us, and so should regulation of it. Warren Buffet warned about derivatives in 1993, the GAO predicted a derivative led financial crisis in 1994, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said more regulation was needed in 1997.

I think the entrepreneurial nature of mankind is it based on desire for financial gain and enhancement of self-esteem, coupled with a desire to benefit others. I think most people have an entrepreneurial inclination, which society should encourage by cushioning the effects of failure and de-emphasizing the financial rewards. Entrepreneurship based on monopolizing, speculating, insuring, brokering and other such "paper" activities should be highly regulated.