Is There a Free-Market strongEconomiststrong in the House.pdf

Is There a Free-Market Economist in the House? The Policy Views of American Economic Association Members By DANIEL B. KLEIN and CHARLOTTA STERN* ABSTRACT . People often suppose or imply that free-market econo- mists constitute a significant portion of all economists. We surveyed American Economic Association members and asked their views on 18 specific forms of government activism. We find that about 8 percent of AEA members can be considered supporters of free-market principles, and that less than 3 percent may be called strong supporters. The data are broken down by voting behavior (Democratic or Republican). Even the average Republican AEA member is “middle-of-the-road,” not free-market. We offer several possible explanations of the appar- ent difference between actual and attributed views. I Introduction: The “Free-Market” Attribution Political economists are in general quite suspicious of governmental inter- vention. They see in it inconveniences of all kinds—a diminution of individual liberty, energy, prudence, and experience, which constitute the most precious resources of any society. Hence, it often happens that they oppose this intervention. Frédéric Bastiat (1848) IN 1848, BASTIAT ’S STATEMENTS were probably true. Nowadays they are not. Here we present evidence from a survey of American Econo- mic Association (AEA) members showing that a large majority of *The authors are grateful to the Leavey School of Business and the Robert Finocchio Fund at Santa Clara University for assistance in meeting the costs of the survey, and