Economists need to learn to be one handed, especially the last time that they have to get their point across. Brian Podzinger has three guidelines for how economists can become better communicators. "Make it clear to people that economists think something and the public thinks something else" And my last piece of advice: Economics can, should, and must be fun.
Bryan Caplan, of George Mason University and blogger at EconLog, talks about his book, The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. Caplan argues that democracies work well in giving voters what they want but unfortunately, what voters want isn't particularly wise, especially when it comes to economic policy. He outlines a series of systematic biases we often have on economic topics and explains why we have little or no incentive to improve our understanding of the world and vote wisely. So, it's not special interests that are messing things up but the very incentives that lie at the heart of a vote-based system. This is a disturbing and provocative lens for viewing political outcomes.