The Economist’s Oath
(Adapted by George De Martino from a contemporary version of the Hippocratic Oath)
You do solemnly swear, each by whatever you hold most sacred: That you will be
loyal to the Profession of Economics and just and generous to its members. That you
will practice your art in uprightness and honor. That you will recognize the virtue of
economic pluralism—you will treat respectfully the ideas of those who advocate
theoretical perspectives that differ from those you embrace—and you will under-
take through your words and deeds to sustain this pluralism in the profession.
That into whatever community you shall enter, it shall be for the good of the
community to the utmost of your power, your holding yourself aloof from wrong,
from corruption, from tempting of others to vice.
That you will recognize and keep always in view that the community you serve is
never a means for your experimentation, but always an end unto itself. It, and not
you, is the rightful architect of its own future. You will therefore endeavor to use your
expertise to enhance the capabilities of that community to undertake those eco-
nomic innovations that it deems desirable and achievable. In furtherance of this ob-
jective, you will endeavor to introduce for the community’s consideration a range of
economic theories and policies, even while you advocate for that approach that you
deem to be the most appropriate. So long as you remain associated with a community as
a teacher, adviser, or public servant, you will endeavor to establish the conditions for
the success of the projects adopted by that community, even when those projects
are at odds with your preferred arrangements.
That you will recognize and keep always in view that economics is and will forever
be an imperfect science. At its best, it is an art that is shrouded in uncertainty,
imprecision, mystery, and error. You will approach your work with an honest and
open recognition of the imponderables that bear on the success of your work. You will
teach those you instruct and with whom you work of the vagaries of the practice of
economics, alert them to the dangers of economic experimentation, and, to the best of
your ability, help them to anticipate and prepare for unintended consequences. When-
ever you find yourself in position to act on behalf of others, you will act prudently,
taking care to mimimize harm, especially to those who are most vulnerable.
You will recognize and keep always in view that economic arrangements are
interminably contested and constestable, fraught with conflict, and are often the site
of oppression, inequality, and injustice. You will recognize and keep always in view that
any policy prescription you offer will bear unequally on a community’s members, and
so will induce tension and social dislocation. You will seek to expose oppression; you
will be on guard against the self-serving argument of the privileged; and you will take
pains to give voice to the needs and aspirations of the dispossessed.
These things do you swear. Let each of you now bow your head in sign of acqui-
escence. And now, if you will be true to this, your oath, may prosperity and good
repute be ever yours; the opposite, if you shall prove yourselves forsworn.
(The above text is taken from “A Professional Ethics Code for Economists,”
by George De Martino, in the July/August 2005 issue of Challenge: The Magazine of Economics