Economists are agreeing with each other more
A new survey finds growing consensus, notably on the need for more activist economic policy
OBSERVERS HAVE long poked fun at the inability of the economics profession to make up its mind. “If parliament were to ask six economists for an opinion, seven would come back,” runs one version of an old joke. Yet the gibes may be losing their force. A new paper, by Doris Geide-Stevenson and Alvaro La Parra Perez of Weber State University, finds that economists are agreeing with each other more on a number of policy-related questions.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The new consensus”
Finance & economics January 8th 2022
- How long can the global housing boom last?
- The EU’s green-investing “taxonomy” could go global
- A war of words ends with the Democrats in charge of a key regulator
- Economists are agreeing with each other more
- Could China’s north-east be home to its next banking disaster?
- The rise of personalised stock indices
- Why gold has lost some of its investment allure
- The IMF bashes the IMF over Argentina
From the January 8th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Finance & economics
Do tariffs raise inflation?
Usually. But the bigger problem is that they harm economic growth and innovation
European governments struggle to stop rich people from fleeing
Exit taxes are popular, and counter-productive
Saba Capital wages war on underperforming British investment trusts
How many will end up in Boaz Weinstein’s sights?
Has Japan truly escaped low inflation?
Its central bankers are increasingly hopeful
How American bankers dodged the MAGA carnage
The masters of the universe have escaped an anti-globalist revolt
China’s financial system is under brutal pressure
When will something break?