What Are Economists REALLY Like?

A number of years ago, I sent this [true] story to someone who was compiling a list of jokes about economists, and so it is probably floating around on the internet somewhere. Let me hasten to add that the story is true.

About 30 years ago, we were at an economics convention, doing the usual stuff -- meeting people, going to paper presentations, interviewing candidates and/or interviewing for jobs, looking at book displays, drinking like fish, etc. After about a day and a half, one of the bellhops at the convention hotel asked us, "What do you guys do for a living, anyway?"

We proudly informed him we were economists. "Why do you ask?"

"I've never seen a convention like this," he said. "More booze than I've ever seen before, but no broads. What's wrong with you guys? Where are the hookers?"

I wonder if times have changed. I wonder if the growth in the number of women in the profession has had an effect on outsiders' perceptions of economists.

[Before you ask, no, I am not implying that female economists might be mistaken for hookers.]