Experts and Epistemic Monopolies

Putting Austrian economists in dialogue with other traditions, this volume collects 11 papers on the problem of experts and monopolies of knowledge. Topics discussed in the papers presented by Koppl (Institute for Forensic Science Administration, Fairleigh Dickinson U., US), Horwitz (economics, St. Lawrence U., US), and Dobuzinskis (political science, Simon Fraser U.) include the problem of commodified knowledge in the realm of science, the role of monetary policy expertise in the Federal Reserve System, the epistemic differences between being embedded in a system versus being above the system as illustrated by the greater ability of expert traders to master the complexities of the economies they live in as compared to the abilities of development experts who study those economies, the epistemology of entrepreneurship, the ways in which epistemic monopolies held by forensic labs undermine the court system, and the ethical implications of pluralism in economic methodology. Distributed in North America by Turpin Distribution. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)