| Abstract: |
In this essay, we analyze the dominant position of economics within the
network of the social sciences in the United States. We begin by documenting
the relative insularity of economics, using bibliometric data. Next we analyze
the tight management of the field from the top down, which gives economics its
characteristic hierarchical structure. Economists also distinguish themselves
from other social scientists through their much better material situation
(many teach in business schools, have external consulting activities), their
more individualist worldviews, and their confidence in their discipline's
ability to fix the world's problems. Taken together, these traits constitute
what we call the superiority of economists, where economists' objective
supremacy is intimately linked with their subjective sense of authority and
entitlement. While this superiority has certainly fueled economists' practical
involvement and their considerable influence over the economy, it has also
exposed them more to conflicts of interests, political critique, even derision. |