>> Download and complete the worksheet.
- Read the article below and answer the questions on the worksheet.
Primary reading
Javdani, M and Chang, H (2019), Ideology is Dead! Long Live Ideology!, Institute for New Economic Thinking blog, Aug 12th
see also their appendix with analysis and discussion of methods.
Discussion questions
- Why might ideological bias be seen as a concern within economics?
- Identify the causal factors that Javdani and Chang suggest are at the root of ideological biases.
- Pick two of the five core findings from the article and explain the finding and its significance.
- How can the economics discipline address issues of ideological bias in the future?
Some recent articles
Dutt, D (2020), It’s time to unlock the gates of the economics profession, Open Democracy, Oct 23rd
Elliott, L (2020), Minority ethnic economists under-represented at top UK universities, The Guardian, Oct 26th
Background reading
Chang, Ha-Joon (2014), Economics is too important to leave to the experts, The Guardian, April 30th
* Chang, Ha-Joon and Aldred, J (2014), After the crash, we need a revolution in the way we teach economics, The Observer, May 11th
Coyle, D (2012b), Do economic crises reflect crises in economics?, keynote address, ‘Rethinking Economics’ conference, Frankfurt, Jan 23rd [pdf]
The Guardian (2014), Editorial – Economics: a discipline ripe for disruption, The Guardian, April 3rd
The Economist (2014), Piketty fever: Bigger than Marx, The Economist, May 3rd
The Economist (2015), Teaching economics: The demand side, The Economist, Feb 7th
* Krugman, P (2009), How did economists get it so wrong ?, New York Times, Sept 6th
Haldane, A (2017), From economic crisis to crisis in economics, OECD Insights, January 11th
* Hodgson, G (2011), Reforming Economics after the Financial Crisis, Global Policy, v2 i2, May, pp190-195
Hodgson, G (2013), On the complexity of economic reality and the history of the use of mathematics in economics, Filosofia de la Economía, v1 n1, pp125-148
* Luyendijk, Joris (2015), Don’t let the Nobel prize fool you. Economics is not a science, The Guardian, Oct 11th
Mason, Paul (2016), It’s time to junk the flawed economic models that make the world a dangerous place, The Guardian, Sept 19th
Orell, D (2011), Truth and beauty, World Finance, Dec 21st
Poole, S (2017), The Death of Homo Economicus review – why does capitalism still exist?, The Guardian, Sept 28th
** Reed, H (2018), Rip it up and start again: the case for a new economics, Prospect, April 13th
Strether, L (2014), Joan Robinson’s “Introduction to Modern Economics”, naked capitalism [blog], April 15th
Reflective commentary question
How should economics, as an academic profession, address the causal factors identified by Javdani and Chang?