Go out and explain

#287

My Dear Friend of Democracy,

"Economists need to do a better job of explaining both to policymakers and the public." - Ben Casselman

The American Economic Association of US economists recently held its annual conference. As Ben Casselman writes in the New York Times, a dominant question was what influence economists still have today.

The answer: little.

Economists mostly agree on key issues (government spending > must become more sustainable; migration > better more than less; climate change > we need a carbon tax!; trade > no tariffs!), but society wants and politics often do the exact opposite.

What to do?

Three tips for scientists from the Casselman text:

• Go out into the public and explain more!

• When explaining, find a language that is understood by the majority!

• Admit mistakes (for example, that the introduction of minimum wages was less harmful than predicted) and work on improving forecasting models.

See you in Democracy,

Johannes

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