The Economics of Influence

David Colander

Journal of Economic Issues, 2014, vol. 48, issue 2, 485-492

Abstract: The economics profession has fallen into the habit of telling a limited "economics of control" policy story in their teaching of economics. While it is a useful story, it leaves out important elements of policy. This paper briefly analyzes the history of the profession's current policy story, and argues that a newly developed complexity theory offers a richer policy narrative. It is a policy story in which the government and market coevolve, and the role of government policy is to positively influence that evolution, not to control the system. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications that the acceptance of an economics-of-influence approach to policy would have for the story economists tell about policy.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624480223

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