A Code of Ethics for Economists

A quick holiday post:

Hat-tip to KH about Gerald Epstein's effort to get economists to adopt a code of ethics at the upcoming Allied Social Sciences Association meetings, January 6th through 9th.  (These are mainly the American Economics Association meetings, but I love how the name of the umbrella association makes it sound as if economics just is the social sciences as a whole.)

We have reported on Gerry's recent study (co-authored with Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth) on conflicts of interest in the economics profession.  I am glad to see that they are taking the issue to the professional association--let's hope they cause a stir.

There will be a D&S booth (booth #427!), by the way, at the ASSA meetings, which are happening in Denver this year.   I hope to see some D&S blog readers there--stop by the booth!

Hat-tip also to LP for this related item, via Naked Capitalism: a clip from Inside Job--one of the more memorable moments from the film, in which Charles Ferguson questions former Federal Reserve vice chairman Frederic Mishkin on the stamp of approval he gave to the Icelandic banking sector before the financial crisis, even while getting money from it (and not disclosing it). The hilarious "gotcha" moment was when Ferguson asked why the paper Mishkin wrote now appears on his CV as being on the instablility of the banking sector, while the original title mentioned its stability. Find the clip at Naked Capitalism.

What's new in that post is a video of an interview of Ferguson on the corruption of U.S. academic economics.  Here's the video:

Last but not least:  why my hometown rocks.  (The map is particularly striking.)

--Chris Sturr