Elitist, insular and too male – but economists are not mad scientists | André Spicer

Despite what critics say, many economists are focused on real-world problems such as mental health and the climate crisis

During the depths of the great depression, the British economist John Maynard Keynes laid out a vision for his own profession: "If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people, on a level with dentists, that would be splendid." Today, many think that Keynes would be disappointed if he could see what his fellow economists have become.

According to their critics, economists are less like dentists and more like mad scientists. Economics, its detractors claims, is a failing field in desperate need of fundamental reform. Unsurprisingly, economists disagree. They think such criticisms are part of the lurch "away from evidence-based policy" and come "dangerously close to surrender to special interest groups, gut feelings and superstitions". So what does the evidence tell us? Are they dentists, mad scientists or something else entirely?

Economists are a fairly ideological, diverse group of people who are striving to address the grand challenges we face

Related: 'Socialism for the rich': the evils of bad economics

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