IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ejw/journl/v3y2006i3p511-550.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Eli Heckscher, Bertil Ohlin and Gunnar Myrdal on the Role of the Economist in Public Debate

Author

Listed:
  • Benny Carlson
  • Lars Jonung

Abstract

In Swedish public debate, economists have been more influential than any other category of social scientists. We examine the views of five great Swedish economists on the role of the university economist in the public arena. What did they say about scholarly objectivity and value judgements, about political commitment and educating the people? The five economists are Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Eli Heckscher, Bertil Ohlin and Gunnar Myrdal. Representing two generations and a broad political spectrum, they were immensely productive. They founded Sweden’s tradition of media-tuned university economists strongly involved in the current social issues. More recently, however, academic economists in Sweden have shifted away from that ideal. The future of the old heritage hangs in doubt.

Suggested Citation

  • Benny Carlson & Lars Jonung, 2006. "Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Eli Heckscher, Bertil Ohlin and Gunnar Myrdal on the Role of the Economist in Public Debate," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(3), pages 511-550, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:3:y:2006:i:3:p:511-550
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://econjwatch.org/File+download/119/2006-09-carlsonjonung-char-issue.pdf?mimetype=pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://econjwatch.org/221
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colander, David & Klamer, Arjo, 1987. "The Making of an Economist," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 95-111, Fall.
    2. Colander, David, 2003. "The Aging of an Economist," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 157-176, June.
    3. Ronald Findlay & Lars Jonung & Mats Lundahl (ed.), 2002. "Bertil Ohlin: A Centennial Celebration (1899-1999)," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262062283, April.
    4. Per Skedinger & Dan Johansson, 2004. "In Sweden, Anti-Globalizationists Dominate Public Discourse, Econ Profs Do Little," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 1(1), pages 175-184, April.
    5. Anne D. Boschini & Matthew J. Lindquist & Jan Pettersson & Jesper Roine, 2004. "Learning to Lose a Leg: Casualties of PhD Economics Training in Stockholm," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 1(2), pages 369-379, August.
    6. Assar Lindbeck, 2001. "Economics in Europe," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 2(01), pages 31-32, March.
    7. Daniel B. Klein, 2006. "Sense and Sensibilities: Myrdal's Plea for Self-Disclosure and Some Disclosures on AEA Members," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(1), pages 180-205, January.
    8. Jonung,Lars (ed.), 1991. "The Stockholm School of Economics Revisited," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521391276, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carlson, Benny & Jonung, Lars, 2013. "Ohlin on the Great Depression," Knut Wicksell Working Paper Series 2013/9, Lund University, Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies.
    2. Jonung, Christina & Ståhlberg, Ann-Charlotte, 2006. "The Fruits of Economics - A Treat for Women? On gender balance in the economics profession in Sweden," Working Paper Series 5/2007, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    3. Niclas Berggren & Henrik Jordahl & Charlotta Stern, 2009. "The Political Opinions of Swedish Social Scientists," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 75-88, Autumn.
    4. Jonung, Lars, 2020. "Sweden's Constitution Decides Its Covid-19 Exceptionalism," Working Papers 2020:11, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    5. Carlson, Benny & Jonung, Lars, 2019. ""Too Bad to Be True". Swedish Economists on Keynes's 'The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1919-1929'," Working Papers 2019:16, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    6. Marianne Johnson, 2011. "Wicksell and the Scandinavian and public choice traditions," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 584-594, June.
    7. Jonung, Lars, 2004. "To be or not to be in the euro? Benefits and costs of monetary unification as perceived by voters in the Swedish euro referendum 2003," MPRA Paper 1334, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Christina Jonung & Ann-Charlotte Ståhlberg, 2008. "Reaching the Top? On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 174-192, May.
    9. Jonung, Lars, 2014. "The Swedish Experience of Fiscal Reform: Lessons for Portugal," Working Papers 2014:27, Lund University, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anne D. Boschini & Matthew J. Lindquist & Jan Pettersson & Jesper Roine, 2004. "Learning to Lose a Leg: Casualties of PhD Economics Training in Stockholm," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 1(2), pages 369-379, August.
    2. Daniel B. Klein & Stewart Dompe, 2007. "Reasons for Supporting the Minimum Wage: Asking Signatories of the "Raise the Minimum Wage" Statement," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(1), pages 125-167, January.
    3. Kara, Ahmet Faruk & Kara, YAVUZ SELİM & Kara, GAZİ İSHAK & Kara, AMAÇ, 2006. "Önde Gelen İktisat Doktora Programlarında Temel Makro İktisat Eğitimi [Graduate Macroeconomics Education In Leading Ph.D Programs In Economics]," MPRA Paper 5487, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Colander, David, 2009. "What Was “It” That Robbins Was Defining?," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(4), pages 437-448, December.
    5. Andrew Mearman & Tim Wakeley & Gamila Shoib & Don J. Webber, 2011. "Does Pluralism in Economics Education Make Better Educated, Happier Students? A Qualitative Analysis," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 10(2), pages 50-62.
    6. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2011. "Kaderschmieden der Wirtschaft und/oder Universitäten? Der Auftrag der Wirtschaftsuniversitäten und –fakultäten im 21. Jahrhundert," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(3), pages 317-337, August.
    7. Bordo, Michael & Istrefi, Klodiana, 2023. "Perceived FOMC: The making of hawks, doves and swingers," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 125-143.
    8. Sheng Guo & Jungmin Lee, 2011. "Keeping Up With Fashion: Recent Trends in the Subfields of Study of Doctoral Students in Economics," Working Papers 1101, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    9. Scott Alan CARSON, 2018. "Lanny Ebenstein, Chicagonomics: The Evolution of Chicago Free Market Economics," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 111-114, March.
    10. Colander, David, 2003. "The Aging of an Economist," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 157-176, June.
    11. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2012. "What is on a Demographer’s Mind?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(16), pages 363-408.
    12. David Colander & Jessica Holmes, 2007. "Gender and graduate economics education in the US," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 93-116.
    13. Spahn Peter, 2009. "The New Keynesian Microfoundation of Macroeconomics," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 60(3), pages 181-203, December.
    14. Dave Colander, 2008. "Economists, Incentives, Judgement and Empirical Work," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 0806, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.
    15. Nilss Olekalns, 2002. "The Teaching of First Year Economics in Australian Universities," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 848, The University of Melbourne.
    16. Carlson, Benny & Jonung, Lars, 2019. ""Too Bad to Be True". Swedish Economists on Keynes's 'The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1919-1929'," Working Papers 2019:16, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    17. Mohsen Javdani & Ha-Joon Chang, 2023. "Who said or what said? Estimating ideological bias in views among economists," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 47(2), pages 309-339.
    18. Kogut, Bruce & Macpherson, J. Muir, 2011. "The mobility of economists and the diffusion of policy ideas: The influence of economics on national policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1307-1320.
    19. Chwieroth, Jeffrey, 2012. ""The silent revolution": how the staff exercise informal governance over IMF lending," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 46623, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Klaus Mohn, 2010. "Autism in Economics? A Second Opinion," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 191-208, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Knut Wicksell; Gustav Cassel; Eli Heckscher; Bertil Ohlin; Gunnar Myrdal; public debate; role of economists; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B10 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - General
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General
    • B30 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - General
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:3:y:2006:i:3:p:511-550. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jason Briggeman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/edgmuus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.