I'm an economist, not a political scientist...

I'm an economist, not a political scientist, so I find it hard to know what to make of headlines like this one

Mubarak calls on cabinet to resign

which is how AOL's news feed has been playing its coverage of the upheaval in Egypt. I mean, Mubarak is a dictator, right? He appointed that cabinet. They serve entirely at his pleasure. So calling on them to resign seems like a silly thing to do. If a new cabinet would make a difference (which I doubt), fire them.

UPDATE: The headline now reads: Amid massive protests, Egypt leader fires cabinet.