Prospect:
Dismal ignorance of the ?dismal science? ? a response to Larry Elliott
20 December 2017
In a recent Guardian column, Elliot reproduced some classic misconceptions about what economists actually do
By Stephen Machin and co-authors
It has become routine to assault the “dismal science” with a dismal ignorance of what economics actually involves. Writers, students and even some social scientists from other disciplines who have very little exposure to what economists do are quick to point the finger and declare economics as a veil for vested interest, and dismiss it as a way of thinking that is fossilised in numbers. Sometimes, though, the criticism can even come from within the economics bubble itself. This week, a column by Larry Elliott in the Guardian wrapped up a whole array of these fashionable assaults in a single piece of prose. He wrote: “Neoclassical economics has become an unquestioned belief system and treats anybody who challenges the creed of self-righting markets and rational consumers as dangerous heretics,” adding “Complex mathematics is used to mystify economics, just as congregations in Luther’s time were deliberately left in the dark by services conducted in Latin.” That is simply wrong. Not only that, it is dangerous. Such ill-informed expert bashing is exactly what gives politicians the excuse they need to make policy whilst ignoring evidence. It is also very distant from the empirically based discipline that we see as modern economics.
See also:
Thursday 21 December
Guardian – Letters
Our economics editor, Larry Elliott (18 December) asserts that economics is a neoliberal cult whose purpose is to ignore reality while concocting mathematical spells to justify markets that impoverish the many for the benefit of the few. That is simply wrong. Not only that, it is dangerous. Such ill-informed expert-bashing is exactly what gives politicians the excuse they need to make policy while ignoring evidence.
Professor Orazio Attanasio UCL, Professor Oriana Bandiera LSE, Professor Richard Blundell IFS and UCL, Professor Steve Machin LSE, Professor Rachel Griffith University of Manchester and IFS, Professor Imran Rasul UCL