"Say it ain't so, Joe!" said the young baseball fan to Shoeless Joe Jackson as the player was busted for throwing the World Series.
If economists were as nimble communicating statistics as baseball writers, more people would understand and care. As it is, sports writers have mastered the art of making data attractive and interesting. In short, they make people care.
Meanwhile, many baseball fans care as much about economics as economists care about baseball. It need not be that way.
The secret of good writing lies in knowing what to leave out. It's easy enough to pack everything in, but you risk losing the attention of readers and listeners. Rattling away with a parade of numbers is a temptation that many economists, teachers and writers cannot resist.
And while that may stroke their egos as they prattle on in great detail to students, readers and listeners, the result is BORING!
Good teachers recognize MEGO (my eyes glaze over) when they see it. Writers, however, don't have that opportunity, so they must plan in advance how to avoid the MEGO phenomenon.
Inflicting number numbness is no way to win a ball game. Or attract and keep a reader's attention.
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