follow us in feedly

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

My Own "Spot that Economist" Story

This week, economists are meeting in Waikiki. Needless to say the local "tweed jacket to flower shirt" ratio is as high as it's been in a while. So, anyway, there was a lot of elevator activity at around 8:45pm and I turned to one of my elevator companions and said, "Well, 9:00. Time for the economists to turn in." My wife asked how I knew he was an economist. It was after hours and miraculously we had both remembered to take off our badges indicating our registration in the conference. He pointed to his forehead as if it may as well be written on our foreheads.

In a related story, getting off the shuttle from the airport, my wife and I were laying odds on whether the guy checking in in front and behind me were economists attending the conference. I saw both later at the sessions.

Another fun game to play is to sit at a hotel bar at one of these conferences, eavesdrop on conversations, and play, "who is the most boring economist at this bar."