Hello, and thank you for dropping by to visit my blog site, EconomicsWatchdog.com. I hope you’ll find my posts to be entertaining, thought-provoking and, most of all, useful as I try to help you make some practical sense of what’s actually happening in our crazy world of economics today.
For those who don’t know me, please let me introduce myself. My name is Jennifer, and I’m a social scientist by training (A.B. Social Science, A.M. Behavioral Science, The University of Chicago). Although my natural interests trend towards things like biology, aviation, gardening and cooking, and I came into an interest in economics rather late in life, I had the great fortune of meeting economist Daniel R. Amerman, CFA, about six or seven years ago and became inspired to understand this beast called our economy. Economics is, after all, a social science at heart (strip away the fancy math and at its foundation lies the full, sometimes questionable splendor of human social behavior). So, it’s not an unreasonable choice of subject material for somebody like me – especially since, like you, my husband and I have to worry about the very practical issues of retirement, estate planning, and just keeping our financial heads above water over the long term. And it seemed to us like that was become more difficult as they years passed, though we didn’t know why.
Since my husband and I became students of Mr. Amerman, I’ve become quite engrossed on a journey to understand practical economic theory through the lens of his unique perspective. I’ve also developed an appetite to use my research skills to apply what he teaches to problems and issues of my personal interest. I love to write and teach (I’ve also been an FAA-certificated flight instructor and commercial airline basic indoc and ground instructor), and this blog is a series of essays that I, as a lay person, am writing to teach myself how to understand many mysterious (to me) aspects of economics. I’ve found that, generally, the best way to help oneself learn is to take on the task of teaching the subject material to others. This blog is therefore intended to help you understand the big issues in our economy and what their practical implications are for you, through listening to me sort out the issues for myself. Think of this blog as sort of a series of eclectic economics self-education essays and you’ll get the idea. I’ll participate in the seminars, pour through the research articles, and talk with relevant people in the field to get the information we need to see what’s going on, so you don’t have to. Those are the things I actually enjoy doing. Then I’ll try to put it all together in ways that help you figure out what it all means to your life. Sound reasonable?
Good! Then I hope you’ll get started by diving into my posts, and letting me know what you think.
DISCLAIMER: I want to make it perfectly clear that I am NOT a professionally trained economist, financial advisor, or other fried, dyed and turned-to-the-side financial professional. I am a social scientist with a strong background in biology and animal behavior, which gives me an unusual perspective that sometimes comes through in my writing. The ideas, analyses and opinions expressed in my posts are entirely my own. I do draw heavily from a foundation of study of Dan Amerman’s work, but please don’t blame him if you disagree with something I say. Those wishing to access his work for themselves can find his web site at http://www.danielamerman.com. Another body of work from which I draw is the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee web site at http://www,GATA.com.
Nothing I write should be construed as legal or professional advice, although I hope that my thinking might be better than that of some of the papered and pedigreed ‘experts’ who sometimes can’t see beyond the boundaries of their own ideologies. Thanks for giving me an honest try.
Economics Watchdog 