The rainmaker—much like the modern-day central banker—may attempt to smooth out the business cycle, literally dampening things down when they get too hot.
But this would be an odd conclusion to draw from economic growth that, while robust, has presumably not escaped the business cycle entirely, as recent disappointing consumer-confidence and housing data demonstrate.
After the financial crisis, Mr Leamer followed up with a paper entitled " Housing really is the business cycle" , in case readers had failed to get the message.