The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

Chapter 23 • The World’s Oldest Profession 131
“The Council of Lords is my best customer,” she replied proudly.
“The Lords pay me well – with other people’s money, of course.
Then they use my predictions in their speeches to justify the taking
of more money to prepare for the murky future. It really works out
well for both of us.”
“That must be quite a responsibility,” said Jonathan. “How
accurate have your predictions been?”
“You’d be surprised at how few people ask me that,” chuckled
the economist. She hesitated and looked him carefully in the eye.
“To be perfectly truthful, you might get a better prediction with the
fl ip of a coin. The fl ip of a coin is something that anyone can do
with ease, but it never does anyone any good. It will never make
fearful people happy, it will never make me rich, nor will it ever
make the Lords powerful. So you can see, it’s important that I
conjure impressive and complicated forecasts to suit them or they
fi nd someone else who will.”
“Hmm,” thought Jonathan. “It is the world’s oldest profession!”