Academics do have real effects on policy in many dimensions, though usually over the long range through establishing the stylized facts and particular explanations for them.
This WSJ piece details how economists have affected the debate over policy responses to the financial crisis, a much more short-run endeavor, though with roots in the long term research agendas of the profession and of particular scholars.
Hat tip: Greg Mankiw
Whew.
8 years ago
