IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/sjecst/v154y2018i1d10.1186_s41937-017-0009-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On economists as policy advisors with applications to Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Aymo Brunetti

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of economists in advising political agents. Based on the experience in the recent financial crisis, it starts with the important role of expectations management. Economists should make clear that precise forecasts are not possible but that application of economic principles and careful analysis of data and historical events can substantially improve political decisions. In order to be effective, economic advisors have to be aware of the first best as well as of the political feasibility of proposals. Efficiency is the obvious benchmark, but a large part of policy advice is about finding the least inefficient of the feasible alternatives. The paper argues that a crucial precondition for being an effective policy advisor are communication skills; academics who become policy advisors should not try to impress their peers but rather translate insights in a language that is understandable for educated laypeople. The paper then looks at the special situation of economic policy advice in the Swiss direct democracy before concluding with a summary of the most important preconditions for being a successful policy advisor.

Suggested Citation

  • Aymo Brunetti, 2018. "On economists as policy advisors with applications to Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 154(1), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sjecst:v:154:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s41937-017-0009-4
    DOI: 10.1186/s41937-017-0009-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s41937-017-0009-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s41937-017-0009-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schultze, Charles L, 1982. "The Role and Responsibilities of the Economist in Government," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(2), pages 62-66, May.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2013. "Economics versus Politics: Pitfalls of Policy Advice," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 173-192, Spring.
    3. Gardner Ackley, 1966. "The Contribution Of Economists To Policy Formation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 21(2), pages 169-177, May.
    4. Lee H. Hamilton, 1992. "Economists as Public Policy Advisers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 61-64, Summer.
    5. Christopher K. Leman & Robert H. Nelson, 1982. "Ten commandments for policy economists," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 97-117.
    6. Rivlin, Alice M, 1987. "Economics and the Political Process," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 1-10, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Heine Klaus & Mause Karsten, 2003. "Politikberatung als informationsökonomisches Problem," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 223(4), pages 479-490, August.
    2. Gäfgen, Gérard, 1987. "Formen und Erfolgsbedingungen wissenschaftlicher Beratung der Wirtschaftspolitik," Discussion Papers, Series I 232, University of Konstanz, Department of Economics.
    3. Bruno Frey, 2006. "How Influential is Economics?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 295-311, June.
    4. Bruno S. Frey, 2000. "Was Bewirkt die Volkswirtschaftslehre?," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 1(1), pages 5-33, February.
    5. John Davis, 2018. "Communicating Economic Concepts and Research in a Challenging Environment," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 591-605, September.
    6. Field, Lottie, 2024. "The political economy of industrial development organisations: are they run by politicians or bureaucrats?," SocArXiv a4ker, Center for Open Science.
    7. Haucap, Justus, 2017. "The rule of law and the emergence of market exchange: A new institutional economic perspective," DICE Discussion Papers 276, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    8. Thomas Palley, 2023. "Theorizing Varieties of Capitalism: economics and the fallacy that 'there is no alternative (TINA)'," Chapters, in: Thomas Palley & Esteban Pérez Caldentey & Matías Vernengo (ed.), Varieties of Capitalism, chapter 1, pages 1-38, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Fanglin LI & Michael APPIAH & Regina Naa Amua DODOO, 2020. "The Effects Of Technology And Labor On Growth In Emerging Countries," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(2), pages 39-47, June.
    10. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    11. Rosaria Canale, 2015. "Capital flows, long term bond yields and fiscal stance: the Eurozone policy trilemma," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 14(1), pages 31-44, December.
    12. Strohner Ludwig & Berger Johannes & Thomas Tobias, 2018. "Sekt oder Selters? – Ökonomische Folgen der Reformzurückhaltung bei der Beendigung des Solidaritätszuschlags," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 313-330, December.
    13. Aoki, Masahiko, 2014. "Economic and Political Transitions from Premodern to Modern States in the Meiji Restoration and Xinhai Revolution: A Strategic Approach," ADBI Working Papers 486, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    14. Kari Hyytiäinen & Lassi Ahlvik & Heini Ahtiainen & Janne Artell & Anni Huhtala & Kim Dahlbo, 2015. "Policy Goals for Improved Water Quality in the Baltic Sea: When do the Benefits Outweigh the Costs?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 61(2), pages 217-241, June.
    15. Carlo Altavilla & Miguel Boucinha & José-Luis Peydró & Frank Smets, 2019. "Banking Supervision, Monetary Policy and Risk-Taking: Big Data Evidence from 15 Credit Registers," Working Papers 1137, Barcelona School of Economics.
    16. Naudé, Wim & Cameron, Martin, 2020. "Failing to Pull Together: South Africa's Troubled Response to COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 13649, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Andreas T. Schmidt & Daan Juijn, 2024. "Economic inequality and the long-term future," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(1), pages 67-99, February.
    18. Henry S Farber & Daniel Herbst & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Unions and Inequality over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1325-1385.
    19. Michael Polemis & Konstantinos Eleftheriou, 2018. "To Regulate Or To Deregulate? The Role Of Downstream Competition In Upstream Monopoly Vertically Linked Markets," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 51-63, January.
    20. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2019. "Behavioral Monetary Policymaking: Economics, Political Economy and Psychology," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Behavioral Finance The Coming of Age, chapter 9, pages 285-329, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..

    More about this item

    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:spr:sjecst:v:154:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s41937-017-0009-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.