IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aes/amfeco/v24y2022ispecial16p884.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Market for Ideas and Its Validation Filters: Scientific Truth, Economic Profit and Political Approval

Author

Listed:
  • Octavian-Dragomir Jora

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

  • Matei Alexandru Apavaloaei

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

  • Mihai-Vladimir Topan

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

  • Tudor-Gherasim Smirna

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

Abstract

“The market for ideas” is placed by scholars and commoners between literary metaphors and catchy paraphrases. However, economics and political science, in addition to the sciences of cognition and communication, have at least something to say about the concept. The marketplaces of ideas entail a mixture of “cathedrae” (governed by the rigors of epistemological adequacy in finding scientific truth), “bazaars” (governed by profit-seeking in the confines of the law of demand and supply), and “agorae” (governed by the democratic rule of law or by the despotic rule of men). Ideas usually become scientific knowledge only after passing the test of reason, which needs to be informed by properly selected methodological toolkits. Far from being scarcity-proof objects, ideas are (serviceable) products (calculatedly) produced by (resourceful) producers, subject to economic scrutiny. Also, ideas are the offshoots of the more often than not overrated freedom of expression (tempered in the political arena by the power of either blunt majorities or active minorities). Thus, it is legitimate to continuously question which are and ought to be the mechanisms for securing the quest for truth, since only true ideas are ultimately prone to sustainable prosperity and peacefulness, though short-sighted profiteering and forced (or accomplice) obedience might suggest otherwise. Scientific truth (i.e., in social sciences) is caught amongst epistemic, as well as (pseudo-)economic and (poor) political filters. The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the frameworks for the evaluation and explanation of the markets for ideas, at the crossroads of the “true-false”, “profitable-unprofitable” and “approved-denied” mingled filters. The approach is equally conceptual (theoretical) and contextual (historical), and whilst being inevitably interdisciplinary, it ultimately relies on economic science, serving a dual role: as scientific decoder as well as decodable case study.

Suggested Citation

  • Octavian-Dragomir Jora & Matei Alexandru Apavaloaei & Mihai-Vladimir Topan & Tudor-Gherasim Smirna, 2022. "The Market for Ideas and Its Validation Filters: Scientific Truth, Economic Profit and Political Approval," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(Special16), pages 884-884, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:24:y:2022:i:special16:p:884
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/temp/Article_3152.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedro Teixeira, 2014. "Gary Becker’s early work on human capital – collaborations and distinctiveness," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. repec:bpj:jeehcn:v:8:y:1998:i:1:p:75-114:n:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Becker, Gary S., 1978. "The Economic Approach to Human Behavior," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226041124, November.
    4. Mirowski, Philip & Nik-Khah, Edward, 2017. "The Knowledge We Have Lost in Information: The History of Information in Modern Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190270056.
    5. Ronald H. Coase, 2022. "The Market for Goods and the Market for Ideas," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 19(1), pages 166–175-1, March.
    6. Paul Pfleiderer, 2020. "Chameleons: The Misuse of Theoretical Models in Finance and Economics," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(345), pages 81-107, January.
    7. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5, July.
    9. Paul M. Romer, 1994. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mirjam Praag & André Stel, 2013. "The more business owners, the merrier? The role of tertiary education," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 335-357, August.
    2. Burhan Can Karahasan & Fırat Bilgel, 2020. "Market access and regional dispersion of human capital accumulation in Turkey," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 1073-1101, August.
    3. Prof. Dr. Adem KALCA & Resc. Assist. Atakan DURMAZ, 2012. "Diaspora As The Instrument Of Humane Capital," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(5), pages 94-104, October.
    4. Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2000. "Growth in an open economy: some recent developments," Working Paper Research 05, National Bank of Belgium.
    5. Shiri M. Breznitz & Qiantao Zhang, 2020. "Determinants of graduates’ entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1039-1056, December.
    6. Dragoljub Stojanov, 2011. "Mr. Keynes, Mr. Roosevelt i Vlada RH Zašto RH teško (ne)može promjeniti razvojnu paradigmu," Ekonomija Economics, Rifin d.o.o., vol. 18(2), pages 329-342.
    7. Jonathan Gimmy Leo, 2022. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Public Sector Productivity Growth in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(12), pages 14-21, December.
    8. Claude Diebolt, 2006. "Croissance et éducation," Working Papers 06-10, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    9. Chris Belmert Milindi & Roula Inglesi-Lotz, 2023. "Impact of technological progress on carbon emissions in different country income groups," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1348-1382, August.
    10. Juan Gabriel Brida & Silvia London & Lionello Punzo & Wiston Adrian Risso, 2011. "An Alternative View of the Convergence Issue of Growth Empirics," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 320-350, September.
    11. Bennett T. McCallum, 1996. "Neoclassical vs. endogenous growth analysis: an overview," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Fall, pages 41-71.
    12. Hideyuki Kamiryo, 2014. "Earth Endogenous System: To Answer the Current Unsolved Economic Problems (Second Edition)," Earth Endogenous System: To Answer the Current Unsolved Economic Problems (Second Edition), Better Advances Press, Canada, edition 2, volume 2, number 01 edited by Dr. Yisheng Huang, May.
    13. Sorin Celea & Petre Brezeanu & Ana Petrina Păun, 2013. "Fiscal Discipline within the EU: Comparative Analysis," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 13(2), pages 23-30.
    14. repec:pra:mprapa:7775 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:bap:ees2th:01 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Erić Ognjen, 2018. "Education and Economic Growth of the Western Balkans Countries," Economics, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 27-35, December.
    17. Ofori, Isaac K. & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and inclusive green growth in Africa: Energy efficiency contingencies and thresholds," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. Lakka, Spyridoula & Stamati, Teta & Michalakelis, Christos & Anagnostopoulos, Dimosthenis, 2015. "Cross-national analysis of the relation of eGovernment maturity and OSS growth," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 132-147.
    19. Aykut Kibritçioglu, 2002. "On the Smithian origins of "new" trade and growth theories," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 2(1), pages 1-15.
    20. Cameron Hepburn & Alex Bowen, 2013. "Prosperity with growth: economic growth, climate change and environmental limits," Chapters, in: Roger Fouquet (ed.), Handbook on Energy and Climate Change, chapter 29, pages 617-638, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Jesus Felipe & John S. L. McCombie, 2007. "Is A Theory Of Total Factor Productivity Really Needed?," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 195-229, February.
    22. Brian Chi‐ang Lin, 2007. "A New Vision Of The Knowledge Economy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 553-584, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    knowledge; science; academia; economics; market; politics; government.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • M20 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - General
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • P00 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - General - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:24:y:2022:i:special16:p:884. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valentin Dumitru (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aseeero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.