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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

"It's the reputation that "social scientists" have earned, which is a poor one. Look at how many people believe "economics is bunk" - yet economics is far less bunk than most of the rest of social science (IMHO)."

I don't think dissociating economists from (other) social scientists would help much. My impression is that a lot of people tend to easily disbelieve economists if they make claims or proposals that would be uncomfortable for them or people they associate with or sympathize.

As an example, a lot of people strongly oppose removing mortgage interest deduction (if such deduction exists), especially if they themselves would stand to lose as a result and often don't appreciate the economists' arguments in favor of it. Even more so if an economist argues that the imputed rent on one's own house should be taxed like any other capital income, it easily gets opposed by pretty weak arguments (like imputed rent really isn't income because money doesn't change hands).

When it comes to things like cosmology, what ever the scientific facts are or what people or experts believe they are doesn't much affect the material welfare of most people. When it comes to economic policy, people don't want to believe (and don't want others to believe) that policies that benefit them have in fact effects that are typically considered inefficient for the economy as a whole.

(I would personally count economics as a social science because it mostly deals with human behavior. But the words "economics" or "economist" doesn't even contain the word "social".)

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

How would a hard scientist be an expert in a field that studies social reforms?

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