The Urgent Need to Save Orthodox Economists from their Crippling Myths
William K. Black
February 29, 2016 Brooklyn, N.Y.
A blogger has trolled all heterodox economists as believers in the “occult.” More precisely, he is upset about “econ people” (who are likely not economists) and who tweet him or post comments on his blog site. The blogger further complains that these commenters say that they believe in heterodox economics and “new methodologies [that] are poised to topple mainstream economics.” He then goes on to say: “My typical response is to ask what these new methodologies are. But incredibly, I can almost never get an answer.”
The UMKC economics department is chock full of heterodox economists who share the blogger’s experience. We too get weird blogs and tweets that are long on revolutionary conclusions and short on specifics. Some of these messages come from folks who say they are heterodox and some from those that write to denounce heterodox economics. We also get an endless stream of policy nostrums from orthodox economists that promise to transform America (in good ways). They have, collectively, transformed America in terrible ways.
The blogger summarizes his complaint in this paragraph.
So far, the main “heterodox” econ “schools” – Post-Keynesian, MMT, and Austrian – show every indication of having no new methodology whatsoever. Anyone who points this out will, of course, be greeted with a shower of insults from ardent followers of this “school”. But when polite, patient requests for enlightenment and information have failed enough times, what else can we conclude?
The blogger conflated “new methodology” with “heterodox.” He provides no rationale for conflating those concepts, so the entire denunciation of heterodox economics wilts upon examination. My colleagues and I use conventional research methodologies to reach predictions and policy recommendations that vary greatly from orthodox economists, and we win hands down in predictive abilities because of the soundness of our use of conventional research methodologies.
in full: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016/03/urgent-need-save-orthodox-economists-crippling-myths.html
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