Do economists reach a conclusion on a given policy issue? One way to answer the question is to survey economists at large. Another is to look at the published judgments of economists who have gone on the record. Relative to an anonymous survey, going on the record makes for much greater...

Knowledge consists of the triad: information, interpretation, and judgment. Much of modern political economy has miscarried by proceeding as though knowledge were merely information - that is, as though interpretation were symmetric and final. Economic prosperity depends greatly on new knowledge...