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Views among Economists: Professional Consensus or Point-Counterpoint?

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  • Roger Gordon
  • Gordon B. Dahl

Abstract

To what degree do economists disagree about key economic questions? To provide evidence, we make use of the responses to a series of questions posed to a distinguished panel of economists put together by the Chicago School of Business. Based on our analysis, we find a broad consensus on these many different economic issues, particularly when the past economic literature on the question is large. Any differences are unrelated to observable characteristics of the Panel members, other than men being slightly more likely to express an opinion. These differences are idiosyncratic, with no support for liberal vs. conservative camps.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger Gordon & Gordon B. Dahl, 2013. "Views among Economists: Professional Consensus or Point-Counterpoint?," NBER Working Papers 18728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18728
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alston, Richard M & Kearl, J R & Vaughan, Michael B, 1992. "Is There a Consensus among Economists in the 1990's?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 203-209, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Javdani, Mohsen & Chang, Ha-Joon, 2019. "Who Said or What Said? Estimating Ideological Bias in Views Among Economists," IZA Discussion Papers 12738, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Christian Leuz, 2018. "Evidence-based policymaking: promise, challenges and opportunities for accounting and financial markets research," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 582-608, July.
    3. Potrafke, Niklas, 2013. "Minority positions in the German Council of Economic Experts: A political economic analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 180-187.
    4. Karl Beyer & Stephan Puehringer, 2019. "Divided we stand? Professional consensus and political conflict in academic economics," ICAE Working Papers 94, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    5. Goodman, Joshua Samuel & Goodman, Lucas & Goodman, Sarena & Goodman, Allen C., 2014. "A Few Goodmen: Surname-Sharing Co-Authors in Economics," Scholarly Articles 22805379, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    6. Sami Diaf & Jörg Döpke & Ulrich Fritsche & Ida Rockenbach, 2020. "Sharks and minnows in a shoal of words: Measuring latent ideological positions of German economic research institutes based on text mining techniques," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 202001, University of Hamburg, Department of Socioeconomics.
    7. Isabel Busom & Cristina Lopez-Mayan & Judith Panadés, 2017. "Students' persistent preconceptions and learning economic principles," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 74-92, April.
    8. Marina Riem, 2017. "Essays on the Behavior of Firms and Politicians," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 73, November.
    9. Hendrik P. van Dalen, 2019. "Values of Economists Matter in the Art and Science of Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 472-499, August.
    10. Li, Jingheng & Xi, Tianyang & Yao, Yang, 2020. "Empowering knowledge: Political leaders, education, and economic liberalization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    11. Dorine Boumans & Klaus Gründler & Niklas Potrafke & Fabian Ruthardt & Fabian Ruthardt, 2021. "The Global Economic Impact of Politicians: Evidence from an International Survey RCT," EconPol Working Paper 56, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    12. Timothy C. Haab & John C. Whitehead, 2017. "What do Environmental and Resource Economists Think? Results from a Survey of AERE Members," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 43-58.
    13. O’Neill, Donal, 2015. "Divided opinion on the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013: Random or systematic differences?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 175-178.
    14. Christoph Schinke, 2016. "Wealth and Politics: Studies on Inter Vivos Transfers and Partisan Effects," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 67, November.
    15. Ha Quyen Ngo & Niklas Potrafke & Marina Riem & Christoph Schinke, 2018. "Ideology and Dissent among Economists: The Joint Economic Forecast of German Economic Research Institutes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(1), pages 135-152, January.
    16. Pühringer, Stephan & Bäuerle, Lukas & Engartner, Tim, 2017. "Was denken (zukünftige) ÖkonomInnen? Einblicke in die politische und gesellschaftliche Wirkmächtigkeit ökonomischen Denkens," Working Paper Series Ök-34, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.
    17. Niklas Potrafke, 2013. "Minderheitsvoten im Sachverständigenrat: Eine politisch-ökonomische Analyse," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(09), pages 37-40, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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