Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth.
Paul KrugmanRead
Our popular economics writers, however, are not in the business of giving their readers a ringside seat on the research action; with no exception I can think of, they use their books to do an end run around the normal structure of scholarship, to preach ideas that few serious economists share. Often, these ideas are not just at odds with the professional consensus; they are demonstrably wrong, and sometimes terminally silly. But they sound good to the unwary reader.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques popular economics writers for promoting misleading ideas that diverge from professional scholarship.
Paul Krugman highlights the disconnect between the sensationalized ideas presented by popular economics writers and the rigorous standards of professional economics. He argues that these writers often mislead readers with appealing but flawed ideas that do not reflect serious economic thought or consensus, ultimately undermining the credibility of economic discourse. The quote serves as a warning to readers to be cautious about accepting these ideas as truth without a thorough understanding of the underlying research.
Themes
EconomicsMisinformationScholarshipKnowledgeCritique
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a discussion on economic literacy in education.
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