Do most economists welcome ideological openness?

Daniel Klein has a new paper, with Davis, Figgins, and Hedengren:

A sample of 299 U.S. economics professors responded to our 2010 survey, which asked: “Suppose you are reading or listening to an economist, and he discloses his own ideological proclivities. Which best represents your attitude toward his doing so:” The results surprised us. Sixty-three percent of respondents chose “I welcome it,” twenty percent chose “I am indifferent,” and only ten percent chose “I dislike it.” Most economists, it appears, welcome ideological openness, and only a small minority dislikes it. Follow-up questions asked reasons why the respondent liked (or disliked) it. These results suggest that economists – or, at least those inclined to complete a survey – are quite inclined toward natural discourse.

I suppose this is good news for the future of the economics blogosphere.  Or do economists just say that they welcome this openness, without really meaning it?

Comments

Comments for this post are closed