A flock of buzzards. A den of snakes. A shiver of sharks.
 
A swarm of eels. A pride of peacocks. An intrusion of cockroaches.
 
Hyenas. Rats. Flies.
 
These are all animals that economists have been compared to. But what do we call a group of economists?
 
In a recent article, journalist Jo Moir coined the collective noun ‘a wealth of economists’. This is too clever to have been unintentional and sparked a flurry of discussion publicly and among The New Zealand Initiative’s economists.
 
Several people proposed ‘a market of economists’, but that would suggest demand for our services. ‘A supply’ might be more accurate. Or even ‘a surplus of economists’.

One of New Zealand’s premier economists thought ‘a variance of economists’ could cover both the reliability of our forecasts and the divergence of our views.

Another thought ‘a cartel of economists’, but for the same reason as ‘a variance’ works, constant public disputes would soon break the cartel up.

Other notable ideas included a vault, a treasury, the Treasury, an inflation, a speculation, a squabble, a malapertness (a bit mean, that one), a dismal (ouch), and a despair (hey now!).

No one suggested The Gold Standard.

Economist Aaron Schiff suggested ‘a core of economists’. In economics as in English, a core means the central or more important part. Something vital. Economics goes a bit further to say a core is an outcome that can’t be beat. A core of economists is thus a group of economists that can’t be beat. The Initiative’s economists were very flattered by that suggestion, but it’s whether we’re achieving our cause of lifting and guiding public debate that matters most.

We thought a banking executive (who will have also heard every name under the sun about his own profession) came up with the best: ‘an invisible handful of economists’. A hand to lift and guide public debate.