Economists seldom ask themselves whether they do anything useful or not. Probably, economists as a species consider it unnecessary to engage in such self-reflection. After all, there seems to be a robust market for people to teach economics or provide economic advice. The American Economic Association claims 21,000 plus members. A U.S. Department of Labor report indicates that 17,520 economists were employed in the United States in May 2020 and earned an average annual wage of $120,880. Almost any graduate student in economics can expect to find a good job upon completing his PhD.
Yet, there is much turmoil within the ranks of people who call themselves economists. For one thing, economists notoriously disagree about the substance of ...
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