Attempting and succeeding are two different things. Right before the last real-estate crash I attended a seminar with an economist who spoke at length why there would not be a crash and in the coming spring there was going to be a real estate boom. Quoted lots of economic stuff to back it up (indicators and such- I don't remember but he was definitely convinced).

The field of economics seems to have a ways to go before it can be used reliably to predict things.