Economics, 3rd Edition

WHY ECONOMISTS DISAGREE

There are many jokes about economists and in recent years the profession has come under scrutiny in the 

wake of the financial crisis. Some of these jokes imply that economists’ advice is either contradictory or 

not definite. One joke about economists concerns the politician who announced that in future she would 

only employ economists with one hand. The reason being she was tired of receiving advice from her eco-

nomists which said: ‘On the one hand … On the other hand …’

A witticism from the Irish playwright and co-founder of the London School of Economics goes: ‘If all 

economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion’. Economists as a group are often 

criticized for giving conflicting advice to policymakers. There are two basic reasons:

 

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Economists may disagree about the validity of alternative positive theories about how the world works.

 

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Economists may have different values and, therefore, different normative views about what policy 

should try to accomplish.

Let’s discuss each of these reasons.