The chattering class only talks with itself

Fascinating the little pieces of information that come along and seem to shed light. From TV News Coverage Of Economic Issues Rose In First Half Of 2015 by Craig Harrington.

Who would you think are the most qualified to discuss the economy? I think it would be fair to say some mix of economists and businessmen. But that's not who the mainstream media is actually talking to about the economy.

That's right. Only 3% of the guests on to discuss the economy were economists. Presumably any businessmen were a subset of the "Other" category (and therefore at most 15%). The great majority of interviewees, 81%, were neither businessmen or economists. They were other journalists (47%) and political guests (34%). Good grief.

Think about that in more concrete terms if the same conditions apply in other fields. We want to know about farming, 80% of our guests are journalists and political guests. We want to talk about healthcare, 80% of our guests are journalists and political guests. We want to talk about defence, 80% of our guests are journalists and political guests.

This speaks to a huge echo-chamber and suggests some of the reasons behind the disconnect between the chattering classes and people at large.

The silver-lining is that the more the chattering class wastes its time chattering to itself, the more it forces everyone else to build a better epistemological ecosystem of information, knowledge and wisdom. The process is likely unpleasant but the outcome will likely be better than the present.