Unlike children, economists are traditionally heard but not seen. But not these days. In recent times, we've had the unlikely spectacle of a book by a French economist proving a persistent best seller in the United States. And only a few nights ago we had Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz performing live (playing PowerPoint rather than a Gibson Les Paul) in front of a thrumming crowd in Sydney's Town Hall. It's a wonder there wasn't any crowd surfing.