"An economist is a man who states the obvious in terms of the incomprehensible." - Alfred A. Knopf

To get into my MPP program at Université Laval, I needed to take two Economics courses and one Statistics course this term. I initially thought, "Super! First year courses will be a breeze compared to the other work I have done these last 2 years." Wrong. I find it oddly fascinating how I can read my textbook, understanding generally what they are talking about, and then be presented with formulas and graphs at an exam that may as well be in Chinese. Am I losing my mind, or is Economics just a complicated, ambiguous subject? For example, my last assignment contained the following question:

Assume that a perfectly competitive firm has MC = AVC = $12, MC = ATC = $20, and MC = MR = $24. On the basis of this information, can we tell what level of output will the firm choose? Is the firm making a profit? Is the firm making a rent?

To which I said: Are you kidding? Is the firm making a profit? It dang well better be, or someone is in big trouble. Is the firm making a rent? No, 5 years of teaching English have taught me that one "charges rent" and does not "make a rent". Yeah, well, I think I'm funny. I guess I have just met my match; fortunately (well, hopefully, if I pass) it will all be over April 10th.

On a lighter note, French is a great language (but of course, I may be biased). I love discovering things that when translated literally, have a completely different meaning in English. One of my favourite French Bible verses is:

"On reconnait la sagesse dans les paroles de l'homme intelligent, on réserve les coups à celui qui a la tête vide." (Prov. 10.13)

Which, when loosely translated, becomes:

"We recognize wisdom in the speech of intelligent men, we reserve kicks/punches/whacks for him whose head is empty."

Funny. Now THAT's Scripture I won't forget.

KNL