ABSTRACT
Economists help prevent special interest groups from taking over government; they point out rip-offs by business; they give some logic and form to the tax system; they fight monopolization in all its forms; they help the economy operate more smoothly than it otherwise would; and they help design policies that make the economy fairer. Normative economics is economics with hidden value judgments. Positive economics is economics with the value judgments presented as openly as possible. The decision makers asking advice of economists generally aren't exactly sure what their goals are, and the goals they think they have are often laden with inconsistencies. The best economists eschew such activities as normative, beneath their dignity. But such a position confines the best economists to practical irrelevance. Good economists walk precariously close to that line, relying on other good economists to tell them when they step over.
