The new Econ Journal Watch
Symposium co-sponsored by the Mercatus Center:
Economists on the Welfare State and the Regulatory State: Why Don’t Any Argue in Favor of One and Against the Other?
The symposium Prologue suggests that among economists in the United States, on matters of the welfare state and the regulatory state, virtually none favors one while opposing the other. Such pattern is a common and intuitive impression, and is supported by scatterplots of survey data. But what explains the pattern? Why don’t some economists favor one and oppose the other?
Contributors address those questions:
Dean Baker:
Do Welfare State Liberals Also Love Regulation?Andreas Bergh:
Yes, There Are Hayekian Welfare States (At Least in Theory)Marjorie Griffin Cohen:
The Strange Career of Regulation in the Welfare StateRobert Higgs:
Two Ideological Ships Passing in the NightArnold Kling:
Differences in Opinion Among Economists About Government and Market EfficiencyAnthony Randazzo and Jonathan Haidt:
The Moral Narratives of EconomistsScott Sumner:
Moral Differences in Economics: Why Is the Left-Right Divide Widening?Cass Sunstein:
Unhelpful Abstractions and the Standard View
The home page for the issue is here.