Finance & economics | Free exchange

Why economics does not understand business

Dogma gets in the way

It is the mid-1990s and the economics faculty at a leading business school is meeting. The assembled dons are in a prickly mood. Many are upset that business-school fields, such as marketing and organisational behaviour, enjoy a higher standing despite their apparent lack of rigour. That economics ought to command more respect is keenly felt. One professor can barely contain his scorn. Anyone with a good phd in economics, he declares, could comfortably teach in any of the school’s other departments.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The empire strikes out”

From the April 8th 2023 edition

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