Dan Klein : A Plea to Economists Who Favour Liberty: Assist the Everyman

Should economists engage in public discourse? George Mason economics professor Dr. Dan Klein argues they should:

Public discourse shapes and influences the political process. From the political process emerge policy decisions. Rent-seekers lobby for measures that injure the public interest. (Lobbyists on the good side of issues are not considered rent-seekers.) Rentseekers decide what quantity of resources to devote to rentseeking. Economists can stymie rent-seeking by taking part in public discourse and the political process. Economists can use their power of persuasion to reduce the expected benefits of rentseeking. 

Thus policy is explained partly by the behaviour of economists. But what explains the behaviour of economists? Partly, the professional rewards and punishments for taking part in public discourse, or the character of the economics profession. Good policy depends on economic enlightenment, which depends on the participation of economists, which depends on the incentives for economists, which depend on the practices and standards of the economics profession. Government policy would be better if the economists who favour liberty thought more seriously about how they contribute to society. My implied reader is an economist who belongs to the more libertarian half of the economics profession. Readers who are not economists might find parallels with their own professional fields.

Read the whole thing here, including commentary from economists John Fleming, Charles Goodhart, Israel Kirzner, Deirdre McCloskey, and Gordon Tullock. 

Do you agree with Professor Klein?