Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2010
Abstract
Economists are often called on to help address pressing problems of the day, yet many economists are uncomfortable about disclosing the values that they bring to this work. This essay explores how an inadequate understanding of the role of methodology, as related to ethics and human emotions of concern, underlies this reluctance and compromises the quality of economic advice. The tension between caring about the problems, on the one hand, and writing within the existing culture of the discipline, on the other, are illustrated with examples from U.S. policymaking, behavioral economics, and the economics of climate change and global poverty. Potential steps towards a more responsible, "strongly objective," and policy-useful economics are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Julie A. Nelson. "Economic Writing on the Pressing Problems of the Day: The Roles of Moral Intuition and Methodological Confusion" La Revue de Philosophie Economique/Review of Economic Philosophy 11.2 (2010): 37-68.
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Economic Policy Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Public Policy Commons
Comments
Revision of Global Development Working Paper No. 09-03, published April 2009 (the file for which is attached).
For the final print version of this article, visit www.cairns.info.