, Columnist
How to Give a Cool Appraisal to Hot Economics Studies
Be skeptical, not cynical. Let research shift your beliefs, but don’t rely on a single paper.
The answer's in there somewhere.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Things are looking good for the economics profession. In an earlier column, I suggested that the shift toward empirical economics, away from unsupported theoretical speculation, will be good for restoring faith in the field. But this encouraging trend comes with a caveat. As with any science, readers need to learn how to be skeptical of news articles about hot new empirical results.
In the modern age, any scientific finding gets instantly written up and published. No matter how well writers do their jobs, these results will often turn out to be wrong -- or at least, not all they’re cracked up to be.