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Abstract.  Economists' credibility has been waning in recent years. Critics usually cite the profession's preoccupation with abstract reasoning and its focus on seemingly irrelevant topics that hold little interest for individuals outside the discipline. While economic science has enormous potential for improving living standards, the profession's adverse reputation is indicative of a discipline seemingly void of any social contribution. This article presents the results of a recently conducted survey of professional economists. The survey was undertaken to ascertain economists' opinions of their own professional work, including the progress of economic research, its usefulness for society, and factors that determine the publication of that research.

Abstract This paper presents the results of a recently conducted survey of 1500 professional economists living in the United States and Canada. The study was undertaken in an attempt to ascertain professional economists'views of the worth and usefulness of their own scientific research. The response rate of the survey was 49 percent (734 respondents) yielding statistical results which suggest that economists do believe their research has some social value. Economists in this survey believe, however, that the spillover benefits from that research are not substantial and are probably limited to certain groups.

U.S. Federal legislation related to family planning services for women has been an ongoing process for several decades. Over the years numerous researchers have written about and speculated on many different Congressional acts germane to family planning. Most of these studies, however, have limited their discussions to a specific piece of legislation, its implications, and/or social consequences. The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive (but relatively brief) history of federal legislation related to family planning services for women of all ages. The list of bills and acts is long and dates back to 1935.

Abstract. The relationship between the probability of a teenage birth and various independent variables representing fecundity, attitudes, resources, and the economic opportunities for a sample of teenage females drawn from the 1980 census is examined. A theoretical framework, based on Becker's model, is employed to describe the birth‐decision process and tested using a logit technique. The findings suggest that receipt of public assistance income and perceived economic opportunities are more important in explaining fertility probabilities among older (18–19 years old) teenagers. Among younger teens, accessibility to family planning and abortion services, and religious attitudes toward family planning ate more important predictors of fertility.

Education reform has been a major issue at both the state and national levels in the last decade, and economists have participated in the debate frequently using traditional statistical tools to assess learning gains and associated costs. (Hanushek, Chubb & Moe etc.) The political debate has, however, relied more on emotional responses than objective economic analysis and outcomes have conformed highly to those predicted by the established models in public choice theory. In addition, the manipulation of cognitive dissonance has become a widely used political tool in this debate. In this paper, we combine elements of dissonance theory and the public choice literature to explain behavior as it relates to education reform. We also demonstrate how dissonance can be managed by educational bureaucrats, legislators, and special interests to their own self-interest.

With Adam Smith, political economy emerged as part of moral philosophy. From the early 1800s, however, writers have considered whether economics as a science can be demarcated from morals and politics. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there were strong movements toward demarcation and separation of economics from moral, cultural, and political judgment. Someone who moves in the world of academic economics now is likely to detect something of an official orthodoxy that economic science should be "positive" and not "normative." In this view, economists should be factual, analytical, and "objective," and they should keep their value judgments out of the research. In March 2010, the authors conducted a major survey of economics professors in the US. They asked the respondents whether, when reading or listening to an economist, they welcomed his disclosure of his ideological proclivities. They anticipated that most economists would say they do not like it. Adapted from the source document.