As a card-carrying economist, I fully agree with Volcker’s sentiment that highly mathematical economics is worthless for public policy. It is not just a matter of forecasting. For good public policy economics, look to the Washington think tanks. You won’t find much mathematical modeling there but you will find clear thinking about the issues (well, at least at those think tanks that are not wholly enslaved to an ideology) and policy ideas that are ready to be translated into legislation or regulatory actions.