Monday, August 06, 2007

Economists versus other social scientists versus other scientists versus others

The read of the day: enter the economist species, from the perpective of other scientists (put forward in the first part of the letter to Greg Mankiw linked here; the second part is self-praise from the viewpoint of one member of this species...). Aside the fact that we seem to be the most agressive among the science species (I plead guilty there; it comes with years and years of doctoral training-- with many conferences and seminars included; I strongly doubt this is about ex ante selection on specific features...), it doesn't sound so bad, does it? :-). Below a summary of the crucial points (put some economists and other various scientists in the same room):


  • The economists present better papers and are less likely to be caught off-guard in a seminar. They are also more likely to discover problems in the work of others.
  • The economists are the most aggressive people in the room
  • The economists are the only social-scientists in the room that are willing to argue with the statisticians.
  • There seems to [be] no love lost between the economists and other social-sciences.

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