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For the bookshelf: The Economist’s Oath

Book cover of The "Economists Oath"The Economist’s Oath: On the Need for and Content of Professional Economic Ethics

By George DeMartino

Oxford University Press, 2010


The Economist’s Oath builds the case that economists — like other professionals — should adhere to a code of professional standards. It seeks to initiate a serious conversation among economists about the ethical content of their work by raising fundamental questions on the nature of what economists do, the reception that ethics has historically had in the profession and how this reception is dangerous for all parties involved. The book also explores the lessons to be drawn from other professions with advanced professional ethics, the principles that could emerge from professional economics ethics and the kinds of reform in economic education that might be implied by a commitment to professional ethics. DeMartino, a professor at DU’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, argues that critical inquiry by economists into professional economic ethics would enhance the quality of the services that the profession offers, might help to prevent avoidable and consequential errors and could provide the communities that economists serve with a standard to which economists could be held accountable.


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