The Dangerous Ideological Bias of Economists

“We do not publish papers about our own profession.” – Top Five Journal

Economists claim they are not biased or ideological, but research by economist Mohsen Javdani tells another story. Javdani discovered that 82% of economists claim that statements and arguments should be evaluated on the content only, but the results of the study show the exact opposite. Javdani also learned that female economists are 40% less biased than their male counterparts. It’s time economists learn to recognize their own biases.

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Comment from our editors:

Positive economics, characterised by quantitative approaches, is the branch of economics that aims to describe and explain economic phenomena by postulating 'quasi-absolute laws' assumed to be value-free. The presented research by Mohsen Javdani highlights the problematic claim of mainstream economics, which "put a slight emphasis on the positive conception", to be an objective science and an objective science only. This empiricist self-image is used to exclude heterodox approaches, which manifests in the way the publishing system works. The fatal finding that most economists claim that statements should only be evaluated on their content while being strongly biased towards authority figures, reveals a serious issue.

 

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