No subject

Sun Nov 8 20:45:29 CET 2015

-------------------------------------------------------
In his insightful and provocative essay, Richard Norgaard invites us to
consider today's uncritical economic thinking as a modern secular religion,
the Church of Economism. He draws our attention to the problematic mindset
and views of the church's believers and its =E2=80=9Cpriests,=E2=80=9D that=
 is, the
professional economists, particularly their insularity and unwarranted
self-assurance.

An article entitled =E2=80=9CThe Superiority of Economists,=E2=80=9D which =
appeared in
Winter 2015 issue of the open access Journal of Economic Perspectives
provides substantial support for this portion of Norgaard's argument (
www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=3D10.1257/jep.29.1.89). It provides an
extended discussion of insularity in economics, showing that it is far
greater than in the other social sciences. For example, it presents the
results of a survey which asked respondents drawn from a range of social
sciences whether they agreed or disagreed that "In general,
interdisciplinary knowledge is better than knowledge obtained by a single
discipline." The majority of those in every discipline except economics
agreed. In economics, the majority disagreed. Commenting on this stark
divergence, the article observed that, compared to other social scientists,
economists have a distinctive confidence in the superiority of their
discipline, and so are unlikely to feel the need to rely on other
disciplines or even to acknowledge their existence. A variety of evidence
presented or cited in the article supports this observation.

Why does a sense of superiority arise among economists? It is due in large
part to their view that they alone have a well-established knowledge base
similar to that possessed by physical scientists or engineers and so are
better positioned than the others to find the right answers to a wide range
of society's problems. As Norgaard notes, this "physical science delusion"
is observed by students when they are taught economics, and they are
discomforted by it. This delusion is fully accepted and provides the basis
for discussion within economics. This is made quite clear in a 2006 NBER
working paper =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9CThe Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engine=
er=E2=80=9D (
www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/Macroeconomist_as_Scientist.Mankiw.pdf) -- by
N. Gregory Mankiw, a well-known Harvard economist, advisor to President
Bush, and author of best-selling introductory textbook. Mankiw starts his
discussion by arguing that developing theories with mathematical precision
and testing them using sophisticated
statistical techniques applied to huge data sets makes economists
substantially similar to physicists. The fact that one group studies
inanimate objects and the laws that govern their behavior while the other
deals with conscious human beings and the social relationships among them
is apparently of no importance to the professor. It does not receive a
mention, let alone a serious discussion, in his paper.

The sense of superiority based in large part on the physical science
delusion and the insularity to which it leads are two of the pillars upon
which the Church of Economism rests. They shape the type of church it is.
Rather than being ecumenical and respectful of others, it is closed and
disdainful. In short, it is a church of just the type one hopes not to see.

John Stutz

-----
Original Message
-----
 Transition Network [mailto:gtnetwork at greattransition.org]
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 2:50 PM
 Stutz
 Church of Economism and Its Discontents (GTN Discussion)