People frequently cite “uncertainty” as a cause of our economic troubles. It’s especially common to hear people on the news say this. And I suspect most people don’t give it much thought.

There is and always shall be uncertainty. As Yoda said: “Always in motion is the future.” There was uncertainty in the 1990s when the economy was booming. So I don’t think something as vague as that is causing the problems we face today.

People usually speak about the economy in vague terms or else in outright metaphor. (eg. “Get the economy back on track”. What track?) Obviously, it’s difficult to describe such a complex subject accurately and succinctly, but people have to be careful about being too vague, lest discussion of the subject lose all relationship to reality.

Well, actually, according to Paul Krugman, it already has. Oh, well.