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Knowing Mathematics is essential to improve analytical skills in economics. 
It is also important in the communication with peers, since, as we all 
know, economics turned to be a very mathematical subject. 
 
However, knowing other languages is also crucial for communication. Think 
of policymaking. Some decades ago Albert Hirschman created the expression 
"visiting-economist syndrome", to criticize foreign missions who went to 
underdeveloped countries and issued policy recommendations without a close 
examination of the institutional conditions prevailing in the region. A 
foreign advisor who works for bi-lateral and multi-lateral organizations 
should make a definite effort to learn the language and assimilate the 
culture. He must "understand the understanding" that locals have of their 
problems and of the proposed solutions. Without knowing the language, he 
will tend to rely on abstract prescriptions and general principles that 
were probably never applied in his home country and definitely will not 
work. 
 
 
Ana Maria Bianchi 
Universidade de Sao Paulo 
 
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