RECENTLY, Dr DeLisle Worrell, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, contended in an address to the Barbados Economic Society that economists in Barbados and the wider Caribbean have “lost their way”. Is there some truth to this assertion?The governor was right in that the mainstream of academic research in economics for better or worse puts theoretical coherence and elegance first. This is where the frontier of the discipline is. This arose mainly because many economists like to think that there is some stable state of the world if they get their models right; an equilibrium, to use the jargon. Today, to be a successful professional economist, one must be able to read and understand the journals in which economic papers are published. To do this, economists must be highly competent in the use of mathematical and statistical techniques. The “issue” may come down to the right incentives. Economists, younger economists in particular, are incentivised to publish their papers in economic journals in order to be promoted, gain tenure among other things. This predisposes them to technical wizardry in these pursuits. To be certain, though, it is not only economics or economists that have followed this path.On the other hand, Dr Worrell was wrong when he suggested that many Barbadian economists are theorists. Most economists in Barbados and the Caribbean are not economic theorists. They are empiricists. That is, they use data to try to answer various questions. Certainly, you would find that most of the papers published by Caribbean economists over the last 20 years are empirical in nature. Some of these papers are motivated by problems actually facing a country or countries in the region. Other papers are motivated by perhaps a narrower question that may only be of interest to other economists and not the wider public, given their esoteric content. When Dr Worrell says that regional economists need to get “real”, they actually do get “real”. There are numerous studies that have been conducted on behalf of businesses, governments, and regional and international institutions. In this context, economists get very “real” and tackle very challenging problems facing the region. We have to be aware that not all economics research is conducted to tackle a problem in the country or the region. Some research is purely academic in nature. It is done to help advance the body of knowledge known as economics.
That is, there is on occasion the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Finally, I agree that there may be a need for “a new paradigm in economics”, as Dr Worrell asserted. However, it will not be one that focuses on “economic exchanges in an industrial society”. Rather, it will be based on the knowledge-based economy. In this regard, the rules and practices that determined success in the industrial economy will need to be rewritten in a globalised economy where knowledge resources such as “know-how” and expertise are as critical as other economic resources, or even more so.I strongly reject the contention that Barbadian economists have “lost their way”. The reality is that the way has changed, and we must change with it.
