Straight Talk on Trade by Rodrik Dani

Author:Rodrik, Dani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2017-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Economists, Politics, and Ideas

For people who work in the world of ideas, economists are oddly silent on the role of ideas in shaping behavior and social outcomes. They emphasize “interests” instead—the raw, selfish motive of advancing one’s own standing in material, social, and political arenas. Yet without ideas—about how the world works, what objectives we should pursue, and which strategies are available to pursue our ends—the concept of self-interest is empty and useless. Identities, norms, values, worldviews, opportunities, and constraints are all shaped by ideas in the air—and not just those of economists!

Taking ideas seriously helps us solve many conundrums in social and political life. Why do elites block economic reform in some societies, for fear that it may undermine their political power, while championing it in others? Why did intellectuals and political parties on the left turn into cheerleaders for globalization, rendering them incapable of responding to the eventual backlash? What compelled America’s white middle class to vote against its apparent economic self-interest in the 2016 presidential elections? Equally important, taking ideas seriously helps us escape the iron cage of vested interests as we move forward to reform our economics and politics.

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