I was sitting in a padaria eating a a couple of pieces of bread and reading an old issue of Brazil's main financial magazine, Exame. One of its staff writers said that, in a crisis, economists are useless and can't really tell you which way to turn.

Hrumph. Are economists good any time? If they can't help the country in a crisis, what use are they? And as much as they banter figures and numbers around as if it were a scientific field of study, why can't they agree?

My economic theory boils down to this:

1. Pay cash.
2. If you can't pay cash, do without.
3. If you can't do without, get a higher-paying job.
4. If you can't get a higher-paying job, pay through the nose on credit.
5. If you can't pay through the nose on credit, pay cash.