Bryan Caplan on the Difference between Econ and Physics

There's a key difference between econ, and say, physics: While they're both perceived as hard and boring, few laymen have passionate opinions about physics.
Economics is another story.  The man in the street can't draw supply-and-demand diagrams, but when the price of gas goes up, he blames business conspiracies.  He knows nothing about comparative advantage, but he's an avid protectionist.  He can't define marginal productivity, but he's sure that downsizing is bad for the world.  If you tell him that we're far richer in 2010 than we were in 1990, he'll roll his eyes.
Bryan Caplan