WHILE as journalists the editors "of TIME remain generalists, they have found it increasingly necessary to make themselves far more expert than before in many, many fields. Yet there are some areas so vastly complex that only a true specialist will do--to help and work with the editors in their weekly appraisal of the news. Thus last February, TIME contracted with the Louis Harris organization for a series of swift, meaningful public-opinion surveys on national issues as they arise. We believe that the six TIME-Louis Harris polls to date have enhanced everybody's understanding of what the country has been thinking about Viet Nam, changing morality, the Kennedy case, and confidence in the press.

This week the editors take pleasure in announcing their association with another group of experts: TIME's board of economists, composed of eight distinguished scholars. The board will not be called upon, of course, for routine readings of economic happenings and business activity. Rather, its members will act as consultants on major developments--as well as gather four times each year with the editors in New York for a full day of wide-ranging discussion across the entire spectrum of past, present and future economics.

Senior Editor Marshall Loeb, who suggested the idea, spent many months recruiting TIME's board, seeking members who represent every school of economic thought, all parts of the country and a wide variety of institutions--banks, universities, corporations, foundations, private consulting firms. We hope that our dialogue with the new board will enable TIME to convey a greater range and depth of opinion to an increasingly better informed readership.

This week's lead story in the Business section, written by George Church and researched by Sue Raffety, is the first direct result of such contact. The excerpts from the board's initial meeting were compiled by Clell Bryant and Claire Barnett. What does not appear in the excerpts is one little exchange that goes a long way to demolish Carlyle's famous description of economics as "the dismal science." Asked by Editor Loeb to clarify a point during the discussions, Dr. Walter Heller, a former presidential adviser, smilingly replied: "I purposely left that a little vague. I was following the Alex Cairncross dictum. His first rule when making a forecast is: Give either a number or a date, but never both. His second rule is: Never underestimate the power of a platitude. His third rule is: When the President asks you a question, remember that he doesn't know the answer either."

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