Part 9/10:
The discussion culminates in a sobering reflection: if economists are incentivized to please their peer group and produce complexity for its own sake, then honors, awards, and prestigious positions don't necessarily correlate with practical usefulness. It raises the provocative question—Can someone with many accolades still be fundamentally disconnected from the real economy and its needs?
Cartik’s critique underscores a broader need for reform. To genuinely serve society, economic research and policymaking must embrace greater transparency, real-time data analysis, and feedback mechanisms. Without these, policies based on outdated, insular models risk causing harm rather than helping.