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Reduce corruption: 300 economists call for Code
of Ethics - January
6, 2011 300 economists, many of them
contributors to the Real-World Economics Review, have issued a
public letter arguing that the American Economics Association should adopt a
code of ethics for economists. Other American
academic and professional associations, including those for sociologists,
psychologists and statisticians, took this elementary step a long time ago.
The call for this reform comes on the back of revelations such as the
following: Former
Federal Reserve Board member Frederic Mishkin, for instance, took $124,000
from the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce “to write a paper praising its
regulatory and banking systems, two years before the Icelandic banks’ Ponzi
scheme collapsed.” Others have taken aim at White House economist Larry
Summers (who earned millions with hedge fund D.E. Shaw) and his
probable replacement Gene Sperling (who earned nearly $1 million from Goldman Sachs in 2008). The longer
the résumé, the more prominent the economist, the more likely the opportunity
for conflicts. http://www.slate.com/id/2279937/ The
letter from the 300 economists may be read here.
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