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Dangerous interconnectedness: economists' conflicts of interest, ideology and financial crisis

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  • Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth
  • Gerald A. Epstein

Abstract

This study investigates potential conflicts of interest among academic economists and some measures to address them. We investigated the financial affiliations of 19 prominent academic financial economists who were associated with two economist groups proposing financial reform measures in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. We assessed whether they had private financial affiliations, and identified the degree to which these economists disclosed these affiliations in their academic and media publications from 2005 to 2009 and again from January 2011 through April 2011. We found that private affiliations were common but that these academic economists disclosed these affiliations infrequently and inconsistently. We advocate the adoption of a code of ethics by the economics profession, similar to those commonly implemented by other disciplines, prescribing more transparent conduct for economists facing such potential conflicts of interest. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth & Gerald A. Epstein, 2012. "Dangerous interconnectedness: economists' conflicts of interest, ideology and financial crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(1), pages 43-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:36:y:2012:i:1:p:43-63
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/ber036
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Boyer, 2013. "The euro crisis: undetected by conventional economics, favoured by nationally focused polity," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(3), pages 533-569.
    2. Andrew Mearman & Sebastian Berger & Danielle Guizzo, 2016. "Curriculum reform in UK economics: a critique," Working Papers 20161611, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    3. Roman M. Sheremeta, 2016. "The pros and cons of workplace tournaments," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 302-302, October.
    4. Sheremeta, Roman M. & Shields, Timothy W., 2017. "Deception and reception: The behavior of information providers and users," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 445-456.
    5. Ben Fine, 2013. "Economics - Unfit for purpose: The Director's Cut," Working Papers 176, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    6. Peter J. Boettke & Alexander W. Salter & Daniel J. Smith, 2018. "Money as meta-rule: Buchanan’s constitutional economics as a foundation for monetary stability," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 529-555, September.
    7. Anna Lewicka-Strzalecka, 2017. "Swiadomosc konfliktu interesow jako akademicki standard etyczny / Awareness of Conflict of Interest as an Academic Standard of Ethics," Annales. Ethics in Economic Life, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, vol. 20(1), pages 7-16, February.
    8. George DeMartino, 2013. "Professional Economic Ethics: Why Heterodox Economists Should Care," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 2(1), pages 1-4, April.
    9. Fabo, Brian & Jančoková, Martina & Kempf, Elisabeth & Pástor, Ľuboš, 2021. "Fifty shades of QE: Comparing findings of central bankers and academics," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-20.
    10. Brian Fabo & Martina Jancokova & Elisabeth Kempf & Lubos Pastor, 2020. "Fifty Shades of QE: Conflicts of Interest in Economic Research," Working and Discussion Papers WP 5/2020, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    11. Salter, Alexander W. & Smith, Daniel J., 2019. "Political economists or political economists? The role of political environments in the formation of fed policy under burns, Greenspan, and Bernanke," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-13.
    12. David Orrell, 2018. "Quantum Economics," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 7(2), pages 63-81, November.
    13. Ernest Aigner & Florentin Gloetzl & Matthias Aistleitner & Jakob Kapeller, 2018. "The focus of academic economics: before and after the crisis," ICAE Working Papers 75, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    14. Christian Grimm & Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer, 2017. "Zum Profil der deutschsprachigen Volkswirtschaftslehre: Paradigmatische Ausrichtung und politische Orientierung deutschsprachiger Oekonom_innen (On the current state of German-speaking Economics: Para," ICAE Working Papers 70, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    15. Campbell-Verduyn Malcolm, 2016. "Merely TINCering around: the shifting private authority of technology, information and news corporations," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 143-170, August.
    16. Jakob Kapeller & Stephan Puehringer & Christian Grimm, 2022. "Paradigms and policies: the state of economics in the German-speaking countries," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 1183-1210, July.
    17. David Dequech, 2016. "Some Institutions (Social Norms And Conventions) Of Contemporary Mainstream Economics, Macroeconomics, And Financial Economics," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 006, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    18. Altug Yalcintas & Isil Sirin Selcuk, 2016. "Research Ethics Education in Economics," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(1), pages 53-74, March.
    19. Simon Niklas Hellmich, 2019. "Are People Trained in Economics “Different,†and if so, Why? A Literature Review," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 64(2), pages 246-268, October.

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