As the Economy Collapsed, Why Were Economists Silent?
Commentary
Public health as a profession has fallen into dispute but it is hardly the only one. The economists bear responsibility too, for it is they who should have been aggressive, open, and loud about every aspect of the pandemic policy response. And yet, they were largely silent as markets were wrecked, Congress blew up the budget, and the Fed flooded the world with newly printed cash to pay the bills.
Every bit of training in economics should have signaled that this was not the right path. And yet all surveys we have from the last 30 months show that most establishment economists had not much to say at all. How to explain this? It’s a combination of intellectual failing, cowardice, and careerism….