How Do Economists Earn So Much Scorn?
By Shi Yi
3/19/2007, Caijing Magazine, Number 181
3/19/2007, Caijing Magazine, Number 181
If one sees the internet as a free flow of information and opinions expressed there reflect the mood and opinions of society, one thing is certain: Chinese economists are losing more and more respect among the common people.
From the 1980s, accompanying the economic reforms benefitting Chinese society greatly, economics became seen as a prominent academic topic and economists were well-respected. Later, as the Chinese economy was reaping the healthy rewards of its economic reform policies, numerous social problems started to creep up, such as the loss of government assets, unequal income distribution, widening wealth gaps between the rich and poor, environmental problems, etc. As these issues have come out, scorn and blame has gradually been being placed on the shoulders of the economists and their community.
2005 was a major breaking point for the treatment economists in China. On October 26, Hong Kong economist Ding Xueliang told media outlets during an interview, "In all of China, there are not even five relevant economists", igniting a firestorm among the Chinese economic community. After the debate moved to the internet, though some voices spoke up in their defense, most commenters and netizens one-sidedly agreed with his criticism of economists.
On November 7, 2005, the China Youth Daily conducted an investigation, and found that 83% of those surveyed agreed with the sentiments of Ding Xueliang. The investigation also found that for 14 mainstream economists in China, only two garnered at least 10% of public trust. They were Lang Xianping, who earned 31% of people's trust, and Wu Jinglian, who had 19.8%. 12.5% of respondants chose "I don't trust any of those economists" .
In the just concluded 2007 "Two Congresses", economists again suffered. On March 6, Representative Hong Kezhu delivered a presentation that criticized four domestic economists by name and accused them of ripping off their students. He also claimed they used family connections and public interest groups for their research, and solely for their own personal benefit. "They claim to be the newest elites of China, existing for helping people earn wealth. But, magically, they earn money faster even than the most dominant monopoly, as they rely on a lack of knowledge about their profession and power to preserve their riches." Hong Kezhu was seen on the internet as someone who had "dared to speak, was able to speak, and spoke beautifully", and earned the support of many netizens.
Of all the criticism of economists, even though such statements continue to grow in number, they basically have two directions:
The first is that economists have abandoned their morals and integrity, and have given up stances of objectivity and impartiality, instead accepting money from interest groups and putting out research that supports their point of view.
Returning to the survey conducted by China Youth Daily, one question asked of respondents was "What standpoint do you think the work of academic economists is coming from?" Among the 1279 respondents, 69.7% believed that academic economic work mainly came from the positions of special interest groups, 14.3% believed it was reflected government positions, and replies were 7.4% and 4.1% for from an academic viewpoint and from the viewpoint of the public good, respectively.
Even more biting than this were the 10 categories that Chinese economists were classified into: policy circle economists, "legislating" economists, nobility economists, program economists, subject economists, forum economists, green card economists, company economists, people's economists, and publishing economists.
This leads into the second criticism of economists, namely, that they only care about improving efficiency, and are blind to problems of the poor and social fairness.
Such criticism is not based on any maligning of economists' reputation or morals, but rather blames economists for remaining too wrapped up in theory and not paying attention to the real problems that China is facing. The argument of this camp is that at the start of reform, economists enlightening the people about market economics was responsible for pushing ahead the development of the Chinese economy, but what today's China needs more than such enlightenment is a greater examination of the problems and externalities that arise from the market economy system. In other words, discussion about what may make an ideal and mature market are not relevant for guiding policies in reality, and such concerns are outdated. Research ought to be more practical, and should be used for the good of the people. "Too much concern about efficiency, too little about fairness, and an attitude of 'only caring about the rich and ignoring the poor'", and "Disregarding the people can only lead to the disdain of the people." are common sentiments.
Of course, among the flood of criticism of economists, there have been some voices speaking out in their defense. They argue that it is not fair to lay blame for all of society's problems of on economists, and that problems that arise from economic reform can only be solved through particular reform-based methods. There must not be any wavering from reform. At the same time, economists must be regarded more as humans. Economists are people too, and are certainly think of their own lives and monetary situations sometimes. Not even the most liberal economists crtiticize the need for people to seek profits.
There is another school of arguments that says that economists can never win the approval of society, and such angry feelings towards economists are normal for a society. Economics is a type of science, and economists gradually fall away from appealing to the sentiments of their particular society, and try to provide independent assessments of the economy based on models. As Nobel Laureate George Stiglitz said "Over the long term, the role of economists is to draw harsh conclusions about the society based on its deviation from the laws of economics... economists often bring bad news, and are thus blamed for economic problems."
How can economists objectively evaluate their role during the reform period? Are the problems of reform the responsibility of economists to fix? What parts of the reform experience should be reflected upon and re-evaluated? Facing a crisis of confidence among the Chinese people, what can economists do to regain the trust of the people? Resolving these questions has now become unavoidable.
Source: Caijing Magazine, No 181. Background: Why Do Economists Earn So Much Scorn?
OK, I did the best I could. Hope you enjoy this perspective.
