Sins of omission and the practice of economics

Abstract

This paper advances the proposition that economics, as a discipline, gives rewards that favor the "hard" and disfavor the "soft." Such bias leads economic research to ignore important topics and problems that are difficult to approach in a "hard" way- thereby resulting in "sins of omission." This paper argues for reexamination of current institutions for publication and promotion in economics - as it also argues for greatly increased tolerance in norms for publication and promotion as one way of alleviating narrow methodological biases. ( JEL A11, B40).