A Critique of Economists

Here is a fascinating dialog between Tyler Cowen and Robin Hanson on Bloggingheads.tv. The discussion starts with an attempt to define what they disagree about. The initial part of the discussion is mildly interesting as an example of academics being abstract and esoteric (all the talk about "meta" level this-and-that). Where I find it really fascinating is 37 minutes in where Tyler Cowen asserts that economists are not neutral and that economic theory purports to be value neutral by ignoring things like associations, loyalty, affiliation, aesthetics, and all sorts of touchy-feely things that people find interesting that can't be assigned a "dollar value" for economists to model. Give this video a try...



Also at 46 minutes in, Tyler Cowen uses Adam Smith to attack Robin Hanson's belief that there is a simple logical economic model that can deal with an issue like "the value of human life" in a consumer product safety area. Cowen points out that Adam Smith saw the human situation as messy and complex and to expect that a simple theory could "establish" a dollar value was wrong. I find this wonderful. I'm rooting for Tyler.