Brad Delong quotes Mike Boskin on comparing talking to Principles of Economics students vs. being Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors:

I think that one of Christie Romer’s predecessors as CEA Chair, Stanford economist and Republican Mike Boskin, says it best. Being Chair of the CEA and advising all the political appointees in the White House is, he says, a lot like teaching Econ 1 at Stanford. Only at Stanford your students do their reading, pay attention, and ask deeper and more thoughtful questions.

I think it would be a lot like explaining economics to my students, too.  Except most of the students might learn more than the pols.