To add a little frivolity to an otherwise dull subject - the results of many studies are often promulgated only after all factors of issues of import have been considered in relation to all the relevant matters involved. When examination of these factors should reveal it to be desirable to take one course of action rather than the other, then it will perhaps be best to do so. If, on the other hand, such examination should show the better wisdom to lie in some other course, then it is possible that the other course will have to be followed. It should be one s intention to study all pertinent factors before determining whether it should be one course, or the other, which should be followed and if at first you don t succeed, just transform the data set and hope the user of the results of the study will remember that to err is human but to really foul up requires a computer. If you can appreciate the above gobbledygook , then you have the makings of an economist.
Studies are also useful for buying time when a difficult decision can t be made.
This technique can be employed as a delaying action, at least until some more important problem arises requiring solution. Then one can forget about attempting to solve the first and concentrate on the second. Economists love the malignancy of this process. There are several rules useful in evaluating the relevance of economic studies. The first concerns the value of the report in relation to the weight of double spaced, extra wide margin pages.