Then as now, the answer is that humility in economics requires an admission that knowledge is widely distributed through markets, not captured in curricula.
One goal of a system of public education ought to be to make that level playing field a structural reality, distributing access to knowledge and information as widely as possible.
Altman and Podesta are smart men, experienced in government, and widely respected for their knowledge, but they were wrong and their comments went unchallenged.