Should we take economists seriously?

Does the publication of economic data encourage too much meddling by governments and policy-makers? How much use is data in telling us what we already know - that the economy is going through a bad time. The Today programme featured this discussion between Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist, and Phil Collins, of the London School of Economics, on how much influence economists should have.

Unit1 Micro: Can a minimum wage create jobs? [16 Jan 2012]
Introduction to Neuroeconomics - Fusing Psychology with Economics [16 Dec 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Asymmetric Information - Buying a Used Car [14 Nov 2011]
Tim Harford - Trial and Error and the God Complex [17 Jul 2011]
Two new RSA Videos - Matthew Taylor and Tim Harford [27 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Revealed Advantage [12 May 2011]
Review of “Adapt” by Tim Harford [9 May 2011]
Management lessons from the War in Iraq [30 Apr 2011]
Fantastic short piece on nudges and shoves! [19 Apr 2011]
Fun Fact Friday! Economists and what they’ve said [13 Feb 2011]
Adapt - Tim Harford’s new book [27 Jan 2011]
Who will win the 2010 Nobel Prize for Economics? [22 Sep 2010]
Economics and History - A Clash of the Titans [12 Sep 2010]
How much does an Economist get paid? [5 Aug 2010]
Casting an eye over pop economics [23 Jul 2010]
Assorted Links (4 Jan 2010) [4 Jan 2010]
Assorted Links (31 Dec 2009) [31 Dec 2009]
Happiness, Love and Scroogenomics [21 Nov 2009]
Tim Harford at the Keynes Society [5 Nov 2009]
The Economist and the FT on Twitter [6 Oct 2009]
Happiness (or subjective well-being) in the spotlight [9 Aug 2009]
The New Economist Cinema Ad - Red Wires [10 Jul 2009]
Tim Harford at the LSE [4 Jul 2009]
A New Book from the Undercover Economist [4 Jun 2009]
The Supply-Side Benefits of Imports [12 May 2009]
Is macroeconomics in a dark age? [12 Apr 2009]
Two More Tim Harford Shorts [7 Mar 2009]
Logic of Life in paperback [7 Mar 2009]
Game theory and emotions [11 Jan 2009]
Roger Bootle on Keynes [27 Oct 2008]
Money on the Brain [26 Oct 2008]
Latte Lesson (1) [10 Oct 2008]
Economists—Attack and Defence [11 Jul 2008]
1st or 2nd? [5 Jul 2008]
Sinking economy - but how deep? [3 Jul 2008]
Price anchoring [22 Jun 2008]
A view on the world oil crisis [18 Jun 2008]
Backbone needed for a carbon tax [25 May 2008]
Revision: Inflation Targets and Measurement [11 May 2008]
Re-birth of the Phillips Machine [9 May 2008]
Economics Conference - 27th June [6 May 2008]
Developments in the housing market [27 Apr 2008]
Submitting your essay for the RES competition [20 Apr 2008]
Tim Harford at the RSA [8 Apr 2008]
Stephen King savages rigid inflation targets [31 Mar 2008]
Congratulations to Tiffin Girls School [21 Mar 2008]
Dan Ariely in London on the 17th [9 Mar 2008]
The Fairer Sex [15 Feb 2008]
Modelling the Economics of Love [15 Feb 2008]

ECONOMICS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER

Join over 6,000 other Economics Teachers in the UK and around the world who receive the tutor2u regular Economics Resource Email Newsletter. Get special offers, first news of latest resources, teaching ideas, conferences and workshops + loads of great ideas for teaching economics from our blog authors.