As far as I can find, almost no one in the profession - not even luminaries like John Maynard Keynes, Friedrich Hayek, or Irving Fisher - made public statements anticipating the Great Depression.

The problem is that once we focus on economic policy, much that is not science comes into play. Politics becomes involved, and political posturing is amply rewarded by public attention.

We judge economics by what it can produce. As such, economics is rather more like engineering than physics: more practical than spiritual.

Robert J. Shiller Quotes