Are economists useless?

A series of articles which will touch the soul of economics lovers

Bankruptcy in Detroit, Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters

1. Confessing the origin of the project: reading research papers in economics is painful

My name is Quentin. And yes, I am an economist. Over the past 6 years, I have worked for the World Bank in Benin, the Ministry of Finance in France, then for an infrastructure investment fund. The common point between all these jobs: to understand the state of academic research in economics so as to give the best possible advice to my superiors.

So, I have been reading research articles in economics for 6 years. I have done it without being either a researcher or a fulltime professor (I only teach some lessons from time to time). And after 6 years, I no longer fear putting words to my feelings: Reading research is painful. It is interesting and it allows making better decisions, but it is really very painful.

Just see how a research paper looks like: it is 30-to-50-page, mostly written in English (which is an important fact since approximately 94% of the world’s population do not use English as their mother tongue) and it is full of equations. In short, without a good half-day ahead and a good training in mathematics, it is difficult to understand the whole of it.

So among the people who know what a research article is, most of them will tell you that they stopped reading research after getting their degree. All these barriers to reading and understanding seemed so important to me for research results to spread somewhere out of academia that I was convinced another solution was possible.

2. Beyond reflection, action

It turns out, for some time, I wanted to get into entrepreneurship. I already had in mind the problem I wanted to tackle and the only matter was to find the right timing. And one day, I jumped! It was the moment, the perfect alignment of heavenly bodies that you do not expect to see often in your life.

Therefore, some months ago, I launched Research Galaxxy.

This project aims to gradually build up a database made of analytical summaries of research articles. This should allow two things. On one hand, Research Galaxxy allows readers to save time and understanding in reading academic papers. On the other hand, the startup allows young researchers to write these analytical summaries and be rewarded for it (if you want to know more about it, I invite you, of course, to log on to the web site www.researchgalaxxy.com).

This project leads me to have wonderful encounters with all kinds of economics consumers: think tanks, professional associations, trade-unions, private companies, public administrations, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, journalists, etc.

Despite everything, after numerous meetings with these people, a rather unsettling question struck me: what real interest do these people find in economic science? Does this interest matches with what economists think they can bring to society? Is the value that an economist brings to an institution different between the public and private sector? In a more general manner: “Who may have a particular interest to partner with an economist to be more efficient?”

3. Dear economist friends, let the introspection begin!

“With one eye, look at the outside world, while with the other, look within yourself “ (Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor)

The question of the usefulness of economists is not new, but I believe the exercise of introspection does well only when it is repeated and actualized to take into account the evolution of our societies.

(NB: At the time of writing this series, I therefore found here and there some articles and books written by others, that particularly inspired me. Among these introspection exercises or among these reviews conducted by non-economists, you’ll find at the bottom this page the main resources that I consulted. Some are in French and others in English).

So, here I am, writing a series of articles, which I hope will set off passionate debates. The idea is this: every week, a new post.

The first article in this series — published below — is committed to deconstructing all the false ideas that define an economist. Indeed, we would rather know what (or who) we are talking about before questioning economists’ usefulness.

Then, the following posts will cover issues such as:

• What a (good) economist should be capable of?
• Why do most economists only see themselves working for a public institution?
• Which private institutions could be interested in partnering (more) with economists?
• Should economists involve themselves more in politics? Or on the contrary, should they maintain a certain distance?
• Why are there so few economists who are entrepreneurs? In what sense and in which sectors are economists acting as entrepreneurs?
• And many other questions which might arise from your reactions and from our exchanges…

Enjoy your reading.

Tell me what you think.

Mark ❤ this post, share this series amongst your friends and follow to be noticed when we publish the other articles of the series. The next one is « 5 signs you misunderstand what an economic expert is ».

Quentin Roquigny,
Founder of Research Galaxxy

Useful ressources:

(NB: Hyperlinks to publications are affiliate links. This means that if you are interested in purchasing one of these books, you can buy them through these links, prices will be unaltered and a small part will be returned to me. It is a way of encouraging this kind of thinking. Long live transparent marketing!).

• The all-new book by Dani Rodrick, « Economics rules — The rights and wrongs of the dismal science », published in 2015. This book, in English, is for me one of the best I have ever read about what economics is. Since it is recent, I knew about it after beginning to write these series of articles and decided to delay the posts publication in order to finish the book first. Brilliantly written by this Harvard professor, he speaks to both economists and non-economists and allows a better understanding of the issues facing economic science.
• The publication « What’s the use of economists » led by C. de Boissieu de B. Jacquillat, published in February 2010, brings together ten thematic reflections written by French intellectuals;
• The magazine « Can we still trust economists » (n° 3030, French Documentation française, 2011). This special issue brings together contributions on questions surrounding the economic profession in its relation vis-à-vis both the general public and economists themselves. Among these contributions, one can quote the article « Can economists still make themselves useful? » by Philippe Plassart published in Le Nouvel Economiste. We can also cite a chapter written by the group « économistes atterés » (who include Philippe Askénazy, André Orléan, Henri Sterdyniak and Thomas Coutrot) referring to their « manifeste des économistes attérés », new et old versions. This last manifesto challenges some assumptions advanced by most economists;
• A contribution of the magazine Regards Croisés sur l’Economie. In 2012, on its 5th anniversary, the magazine published a collection of contributions under the title « Rethinking economy ». In this publication, winners of the French Best Young Economist Award (delivered annually by Le Monde newspaper and the association Le Cercle des Economistes) share results of their research. Each contribution can be read independently of one another and shows the effort of introspection among young economists is constant;
• The book « What’s the use of an economist? » published in 2014 by Mariana Heredia, whose tone is clearly challenging and whose purpose, in my humble opinion, falls often in the caricature of the economic profession as « a defined, solidary and homogeneous group (p. 18) » only advocating for free market. I nevertheless invite you to read it so that you make your own opinion. Without doubt, you will feel the mistrust towards economists that has developed among non-economists — such as Madam Heredia who is a sociologist.

Mark ❤ this post, share this series amongst your friends and follow to be notice when we publish the other articles of the series. The next one is « 5 signs you misunderstand what an economic expert is ».

Quentin Roquigny,
Founder of Research Galaxxy