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Breaking economic principles down to a level so basic that they are meaningless.
When I was in Chile several years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a dinner party given by the Minister of Trade. It was at a small chateau overlooking the Mapocho River. I was on a balcony, chatting with a beautiful but somewhat faded Peruvian actress whose name I can't recall. Our conversation was interrupted by a tall distinguished gentleman who introduced himself as the Head of the Dept. of Economics at Universidad de Santiago de Chile. I asked him to what he attributed the economic miracle that was Chile. He paused, sipped his Campari, and said, "In public, I always give credit to the Wise Men from the City of Broad Shoulders. But truthfully, it was because Pinochet cleared out the underperformers."
Later that evening, I tried out my Spanish on the actress, but I must have said something wrong because she threw her drink on me and left in a huff, leaving me with not one but two cheap cocktails.
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