Free markets with flexible prices coordinate the activities of millions of people in a remarkable and typically sensible way

Economists and res publica: 

 

The virtues and limits of economic analysis

 

Steven Rhoads

Introduction

• With the possible exception of lawyers, economists are now the profession with the most influence on public policy. 
• In the 1960s, when I began working at the US Bureau of the Budget, Charles Schultze, an economist and then-director of the bureau, tried to ensure that most of the public policy and program evaluation offices were headed by economists. 
• Economic thinking still dominates the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, and the General Accounting Office, and it is influential in policy and program evaluation offices across US agencies and departments. 
• Moreover, economic thinking is at the forefront of most public policy schools at our leading universities. 
• Intentional or not, economists now have a large say in forming the laws and regulations we make as a polity. 
• The question that naturally arises is: what are the civic benefits that accrue from adopting the economist’s view of the world—and, in turn, what are the limitations?

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