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Political Identity and Economists’ Perceptions of Capitalist Crises

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  • Mark Horowitz
  • Robert Hughes

Abstract

Radical critics have long impugned conventional economists as ideologically committed to capitalism and blind to its historical dynamics and crisis tendencies. This report evaluates this longstanding criticism. Surveying academic economists in the United States, we find the field quite skeptical of the prospects of capitalist crises. Despite considerable consensus, political orientation is a highly significant predictor of respondents’ outlooks. We close by interpreting our findings from the standpoint of current research in political psychology. Jel classification: A13, A14, B14

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Horowitz & Robert Hughes, 2018. "Political Identity and Economists’ Perceptions of Capitalist Crises," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 173-193, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:50:y:2018:i:1:p:173-193
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613416670961
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Javdani, Mohsen & Chang, Ha-Joon, 2019. "Who Said or What Said? Estimating Ideological Bias in Views Among Economists," IZA Discussion Papers 12738, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Karl Beyer & Stephan Puehringer, 2019. "Divided we stand? Professional consensus and political conflict in academic economics," ICAE Working Papers 94, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    3. Jakub Rybacki, 2019. "Are Central Banks' Research Teams Fragile Because of Groupthink?," KAE Working Papers 2019-045, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis.

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