Perhaps they might learn the limits of their intellectual framework, or gain some appreciation for the complexity of applying their tool kit to the problems of the modern world. But it appears they assume they have achieved a method of knowledge verification similar to modern medicine. Not stupid is not the exact way I would phrase it. When the modern economists solve the problem of poverty or economic development, I'll gladly give up history of economic thought. Until then, some humility and scepticism might be useful in the discipline. HET can provide a measure of both. Eric Hake