I detect something of a tension in academic economics. Social science would be vastly easier than economists make it out to be if we could usually just ask people why they do things. But economists are generally skeptical of this approach, and so try to infer reasons from behavior, rather than from verbal explanations. Yet within academia economists seem to rely heavily on what other economists say, including about why they do things. We seem to largely accept economists explanations for why they take on certain research projects, for why they make the choices they do in modeling or regressions, and for why they reject or accept papers or people, etc.
Do we in fact rely on economists' explanations of their own behavior as little as we rely on other people's explanations of their behavior? Do we really think economists are more honest than others? Or are we just inconsistent? Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
