Empirical economists talk that way, as if each finding is a nugget of fresh, significant insight.
Strategists and economists may be talking about a soft landing, but investors appear to be betting on a recession.
Going back as far as Pigou, economists have talked about externalities in many parts of the economy.
But when economists talk about the cost, they mean something else.
I asked Dewey whether the cycles he was interested in had anything to do with the business cycle that economists were always talking about.
In a recent interview the economist talked about the measure, including how she thinks it should be used.
For starters, economists back then were simply talking about potential problems in the housing market - problems that might spill over into the larger economy.
But when professional economists talk about recessions, they mean something much narrower and more precise: a period during which economic output shrinks.
"No one conceived that an economist would talk about race discrimination in those days."
Before the Mexican peso crisis in late 1994, only economists talked about "financial contagion."