Scientific economics, expertise and policy making

Abstract

In the aftermath of the financial crisis that struck in 2008, Europe is still in the midst of a grave economic downturn, and some of the most immediate issues facing policy makers revolve around how to respond to the current economic turmoil. One recurrent response has been to increase the power of technocratic institutions, as well as appointing people with economic expertise to positions of high power. These experts derive their legitimacy, not from democratic principles, but from the source of their expertise, which seemingly provide the objectivity and neutrality needed in order to cope with the problems at hand. In this thesis I use the current economic crisis as a backdrop for discussing the relationship between economic science and politics. I begin by looking at how scholars in the field of science and technology studies consider the relationship between science and politics. As is shown, they reject the sharp demarcations between a scientific and a political realm, arguing instead that the two are deeply embedded. By drawing on central STS concepts, as well as historians of economic thought, I proceed to make a similar argument for the relationship between economic science and politics. Based on these discussions I end the thesis by looking at the problematic role of economic expertise within such a framework. As is shown, an appreciation of the blurred lines between economic and political work require us to reconsider the technocratic assumptions underlying current responses to the crisis.