Sir, – In your editorial you mention that both the Central Bank and the ESRI “underline the huge uncertainty surrounding their forecasts” (The Irish Times view on economic forecasts: calculating the odds for 2023″, October 6th).
Perhaps this caveat should be added to all economic forecasts at any time.
As the economist JK Galbraith once said: “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
Commenting on this quote The Economist magazine said: “Since economic output represents the aggregated activity of billions of people, influenced by forces seen and unseen, it is a wonder forecasters ever get it right”. – Yours, etc,
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JACK MONTGOMERY,
Dundalk,
Co Louth.