LAS VEGAS - Gene Stanaland might have set a record for most laughs by an economist at a credit union conference when he visited the recent California and Nevada CU Leagues' Annual Convention here.
A small sampling:
* "I've been called the 'Will Rogers of Economics.' That's fine. But one fellow recently introduced me as the 'Mr. Rogers of Economics.'"
* "An economist is someone who didn't have the personality to be an accountant."
* "When getting legislation passed in Congress, you go in a pig, and come out sausage."
* "There isn't anyone in the country who can tell you where the economy is going...so I might as well do a forecast."
* "We have a few minutes left for a question period. Notice I didn't say, 'question and answer' period. It is very important no one ask a question I can't answer. That would make me feel bad and make me look stupid. And, if you were one of my students at Auburn, I would give you an 'F.'"
Sure enough, one man asked Stanaland for a stock market prediction. Stanaland turned, walked to the easel he had been writing his forecast numbers on, and sketched a three-foot high "F" as the audience roared with laughter. "It is impossible to predict what the stock market is going to do, because there are so many outside and psychological factors that go into it," he explained.
