The roots of this question actually originated a few months back. In a conference on regional economic communities held in Beijing, an Australian colleague began his presentation by stating 'I'm actually not an economist.' Somehow, I think this was a warning to the audience (who were mostly economists) that his analysis will not be using any formal models or extensive exploration of data and statisticsl tools. But I thought he had his hands on the ball and was perfectly able to present the economic issues at stake. And then I asked him "what makes an economist anyway?" He and I threw in a couple of thoughts and but didn't come up with a definite reply. ....But today, my brother, again asked the same question. Basically his was "is it profession (training, what you do) or academics (formal educational degree) that makes you an economist?
So...I guess this is a poll : what makes a person an economist? Possible suggestions of mine listed below...
1. A degree (any degree) in economics?
2. A graduate degree in economics?
3. An affinity to numbers?
4. An extensive portfolio of research in economics?
5. The ability to formally express theories in a mathematical equation?
6. A reader of 'The Economist'?;-)
7. A person that favors reliance on self-regulating forces of the market?
I don't know, honestly....I do know that we somehow love to emphasize that our views on almost any matter are seen from 'an economic point of view' ;-)
17 comments:
for number 6 and 7, it seems that you assume all economists are liberal (i.e market-oriented), no?
I am a subscriber of Economist, the magazine. But I am surely the last person you would refer to as an economist...:-)
I don't assume anything, Phil (eh tumben gw manggil lo Phil:p)nr 6 was meant to be ironic...
as regards nr. 7--well,I'm just referring to what the classical(read:original) underlying philosophy of Smith et al....
Btw...these are just ideas to toy with!
A crazy, not necessarily beautiful, mind. And a bit of luck, of course :-))
A strong affinity for pattern and logic behind events (better if quantified/modeled), a desire to improve things and, of course, eagerness to offer policy prescriptions.
Gunnar Myrdal said that if even all social scientist try to understand their topic, but economist will be the one coming up with a plan.
Becker once said that economist has powerfull tool but other social scientist has more fascinating questions.
Hey, thanks for bringing the question up, Pus! :)
Finding a pattern and logic behind events, possibly quantified, is indeed one candidate, yes, thanks for that Berly...but the desire to improve things and offering policy recommendations is not something uniquely attached to the domain of economists, it's basically everyone in the public policy/policy-making field...
Which is basically the essence of my question : what distinguishes economists from other social scientists? The anwer to which is probably indefinite...
Economists vs other social scientists? I'll start with one. Economists have somewhat higher respect for quantitative methods.
Someone who has 2 hands of opinions on everything and hence do nothing or do something that is opposed by half the people. It's a thankless job, economist.
economists seek to explain everything as a problem of utility maximization...
what makes an economist?
father guido says, "easy. when u no that economy is actually a very simple and a static science, which ironically people are pursuing from undergrad till post-Ph.D, that is SUPPLY-DEMAND". :) kidding, mbak.
btw, salam kenal lagi mbak..
hanafi : why did father Guido say 'ironically'? simple isn't exactly undesirable right? ;-)
hehe...btw ini Hanafi yg dari Yogya kah??
economists always fight one another. they're stupid :-) they're arrogantly honest: they're simon cowell.
aco : what is Paula Abdul then? ;-)
An economist is someone who has a lot of spare time......:D
paula abdul is obviously a social scientist :-) manipulative.
umar juoro studied physics, i met him at phi sigma mu, forum sains mahasiswa, and yet he ended up "seemingly" as economist. it's probably interest, opportunitis and passion... salam.
yup hanafi dari jogja :)
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