Ethics in Economics

There are some great quotes in this article. Tyler Cowen, Economics professor and blogger, writes:

"I favour such codes, but I'm not sure they will help much. First, most economic research doesn't matter in the first place. Second, the research which does matter very often is distorted anyway. It is pulled out of context, exaggerated, presented by intermediaries and political entrepreneurs without qualification, and so on. That's the real problem. In this context I'm not sure that a conflict of interest statement is going to push people closer toward truth; the process wasn't accurate or finely honed in the first place. What is published is already so much more scientific than the policy process itself. Improving the former inputs with an ethics code seems like pushing on the less important lever and to some extent it is a very weak substitute for the almost complete lack of an ethics code in politics itself. Third, a lot of the problem is economists in government—advising—rather than what is published in economics journals. " (emphases mine)

Aaron Bekemeyer, who runs a fantastic blog at Consider Magazine, touched on a similar topic. He writes:

"Big business, and especially finance, has worked hard over the past few decades to increase its representation and influence in Washington, and the tight connection between Wall Street and is one result of this. The finance lobby has been working hard to promote legislation favorable to big banks, and politicians on both sides of the aisle are more dependent than ever on money from big business to get reelected.

Given these trends and the simultaneous decline of organizations that protect the working and middle classes, it’s no surprise that the boundary between prominent bankers and economic policymakers has become increasingly porous. It’s not because people in high finance are naturally and automatically the best people for the job; it’s because the economic and interpersonal connections they’ve worked hard to establish make the transition between business and government smooth and easy. This isn’t, as Indiviglio seems to suggest, a “conspiracy.” It’s just how politics works. If economics departments had the same kind of money and organization that big banks do, then you’d probably see a lot more economics professors appointed to economic advisory positions or lobbying legislators". (emphases mine)

I'm thinking of writing a column about the current state of the economic department. I was initially inspired after reading Krugman's take on it. I confirmed this interest last week when my macroeconomics professor reminded us not to take his theories as facts. Immediately a question popped into my head: If they're simply theories, why is this whole class based on memorizing those theories?