Cafe Hayek patron Felix Finch, in agreeable response to this post, sent to me the following e-mail, which I share here with his kind permission:
I had a friend who was an astrologer, and from talking about it, I believe it was a substitute for being an engineer — it has calculations, tables, formulas, esoteric data (double war time daylight savings adjustments) — all the trappings of being an engineer, without needing four years of college. I’ve often thought the same thing applies to politicians — they see caricatures of business people in movies and TV shows, all the shouting, the commands, the abrupt genius decisions — Where is that Jones report? Tell Jones he’s fired! We’ll build that plant anyway! — and that is what politics provides, all the trappings of Hollywood business people, without the need for the long years of experience and hard work.
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