Improving Economic Policy (with or Without Economists)

Abstract

Economists have been mistaken in many of the policies they have advocated with respect to the financial and economic crisis, and have tended to ignore the on-going crisis of climate change. Some of the problems involved in policy recommendations appear to reflect personal considerations, but much has been due to the lack of economic analyses that deal with many of the kinds of situations at issue. This paper outlines both types of limitations and offers a number of recommendations, some of which draw on behavioral economics.