Battle of the Stand-Up Economists

Paul Solman: The NewsHour and then the Business Desk were, so far as we know, the first national stages for the self-professed “world’s first and only stand-up economist,” Yoram Bauman. We have henceforth taken what might be called a paternal interest in his claim. When longtime Obama economic advisor Austan Goolsbee took to the stage recently to do an economics stand-up routine of his own, its concept based entirely on Kevin Nealon’s “Subliminal Message Man” character from Saturday Night Live, we were not amused.

Actually, that’s a lie: We WERE amused. Some of the lines are even worthy of an LOL tweet. But we also felt for Bauman. He’s just an economist trying to make it as a comic. Goolsbee is an economist advising the President, and making economics stand-up look as easy as doubling the deficit.

Recently, on this page, we featured the feisty progenitor of behavioral economics, Richard Thaler, responding to Judge Richard Posner’s broadside in the Wall Street Journal. In that tradition — making sure the fire can be seen for the smoke — we link to Goolsbee above, and print Bauman’s gauntlet-throwing response below. I would conclude by saying, “May the best man win.” But as you’ll see if you follow Bauman’s links, there’s a woman in the field for January’s Risibility Smackdown in Atlanta — Jodi Beggs — and if nothing else, her anecdote about the problems of designing effective incentives, and how she got around them as a 4-year-old, is well worth the quick read.

YORAM BAUMAN’S OPEN LETTER TO AUSTAN GOOLSBEE

Dear Austan: You might think that it was quite a shock for me-“the world’s first and only stand-up economist”-to find a Wall Street Journal blog with the headline “Austan Goolsbee, stand-up economist”.

But in fact I was not shocked, or even surprised. You and your colleagues in the Obama administration have been quite active in redrawing the line between the public and private sectors, and it would not have been rational for me to expect that economics comedy would be immune from the onslaught.

Now, I could take your comedy endeavors as a threat and respond by hiring lobbyists to protect my turf, or by making an appearance on Fox News as “Joe the comedian”. But unlike plumbers or insurance executives or most other private sector businesses, stand-up comedians oppose barriers to entry. Although it pains me to remember the times I was crushed in comedy competitions by high school drop-outs telling fart jokes, I also remember that those crushing defeats made me stronger.

So I welcome the competition, even from the government (heck, especially from the government!) and in fact this letter is an open invitation for you to come join me in performing at the American Economic Association humor session in Atlanta on January 3, 2010. The humor session is free and open to the public, and will also featureHugo Mialon of Emory University, Jodi N. Beggs of economistsdoitwithmodels.com, and country music legend Merle Hazard. University of Wisconsin professor Ken West will be emceeing, so you can RSVP to him or to me, or just show up unannounced and wait for Ken to invite you onstage. We even have a title for your presentation: Stand-Up Economics: The Public Option!

Regards, and hope to see you in Atlanta,
yoram bauman phd, standupeconomist.com
“the world’s first and only [private sector] stand-up economist”