Econ Journal Watch usually watches the economics profession, but in one future symposium we will ‘watch’ the government. We invite critiques of the propaganda of particular government agencies. The propaganda need not be expert government reports and the like; the focus may be on outreach propaganda such as government websites, pamphlets, speeches, educational videos, and so on.
We are looking for informed, scholarly, temperate criticism of claims made in government propaganda.
Publication of the symposium is tentatively scheduled for the January 2017 issue of EJW.
George Selgin has written a critique of Federal Reserve System propaganda. The paper appears in Cato Journal. Selgin’s piece serves as a nice example of what we are looking for.
If you are interested in developing and submitting such a piece, we encourage you to write to us to describe what you have in mind. Tell us the agency you will criticize and instance some false claims found in its propaganda. Tell us why you wish to undertake the piece, and about your scholarly or professional background in the policy issues and institutions involved.
We are open to proposals from scholars and experts outside of economics. One need not be an economist to contribute to this symposium. The aim is to shine a light on the government’s propagation of falsehoods, and one certainly need not be an economist to do that.
Send communications/proposals to the chief editor Daniel Klein at dklein@gmu.edu.