“Much of what is taught in the graduate schools of economics is wrong,” says Nobel Memorial Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
I think I would still study economics. I still think that economics is essential to improving living standards and reducing poverty.
But I would modify that in two ways.
First, much of what is taught in the graduate schools of economics is wrong. In many graduate schools they still teach versions of the Washington Consensus — the policies that have proven themselves wrong. Economists contributed to wrong concepts that played a role in the economic downturn and the economic crisis. So I would caution students to listen with some skepticism to what their economic professors say and to choose the right school. If you choose the wrong school, you may get the wrong ideas.
The second thing is that I am more convinced today of the importance of studying politics, sociology, broader perspectives on social sciences — that all of these are mixed together, and that studying economics in isolation from the other social sciences is wrong.
Source: video posted 15 JUN 2012 by World of Business Ideas
