On econometric analysis

Data don't speak for themselves. It takes the economic way of thinking to explain the cause-and-effect relationships behind the data.

Data are not equivalent to information, just as an amazement of letters is not equivalent to a book. Different people can convey a drastically different amount of information using the same amount of data: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, while a monkey can only give you a stack of nonsense with the same letters.

Econometric analysis helps extract information from data. Econometrics is valuable because it can add value to data, just as literature is valuable because it can add value to letters.

Need to think of another analogy probably. Writing is a way of instilling information to letters, while econometric analysis is a way of extracting information from data. One is creating information non-existent before, while the other is extracting information that is existent but hidden.