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Is There a Free-Market Economist in the House? The Policy Views of American Economic Association Members

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  • Stern, Charlotta

    () (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

  • Klein, Daniel B.

    () (George Mason University, USA, (and Ratio Institute, Stockholm).)

Abstract

People often suppose or imply that free-market economists constitute a significant portion of all economists. We surveyed American Economic Association members and asked their views on 18 specific forms of government activism. We find that about 8 percent of AEA members can be considered supporters of free-market principles, and that less than 3 percent may be called strong supporters. The data is broken down by voting behavior (Democratic or Republican). Even the average Republican AEA member is “middle-of-the-road,” not free-market. We offer several possible explanations of the apparent difference between actual and attributed views.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Swedish Institute for Social Research in its series Working Paper Series with number 6/2006.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: 02 Apr 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2006_006

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References

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Citations

Blog mentions

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  1. Anti-economist watch: David Sloan Wilson edition
    by Chris Auld in ChrisAuld.com on 2011-09-27 00:10:10
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Cited by:
  1. repec:pra:mprapa:33757 is not listed on IDEAS
  2. Cohen, Joseph N, 2010. "Neoliberalism’s relationship with economic growth in the developing world: Was it the power of the market or the resolution of financial crisis?," MPRA Paper 24399, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Cohen, Joseph N, 2010. "Neoliberalism’s relationship with economic growth in the developing world: Was it the power of the market or the resolution of financial crisis?," MPRA Paper 24527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  4. Berggren, Niclas & Jordahl, Henrik & Stern, Charlotta, 2007. "The Political Opinions of Swedish Social Scientists," Working Paper Series 711, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
  5. J. O’Roark & William Wood, 2011. "Determinants of congressional minimum wage support: the role of economic education," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 209-225, April.
  6. Ponzetto, Giacomo AM, 2011. "Heterogeneous Information and Trade Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 8726, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  7. Michael Morrisey & John Cawley, 2008. "The production of published research by U.S. academic health economists," International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 87-111, June.
  8. Klein, Daniel B. & Stern, Charlotta, 2005. "Narrow-Tent Democrats and Fringe Others: The Policy Views of Social Science Professors," Working Paper Series 8/2005, Swedish Institute for Social Research.

Lists

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  1. Talk:Free trade debate in Wikipedia (English)
  2. Talk:Economist in Wikipedia (English)
  3. Talk:Economic freedom/Archive 1 in Wikipedia (English)

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