On Science and Evidence-Based Policymaking

<p>In this episode, the founders and organizers of the <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/nicolas-wittstock/">UW Political Economy Forum</a> discuss the importance of the scientific method to improve how policymakers make decisions.</p> <p>Professors <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/rachel-heath/">Rachel Heath</a>, <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/james-long/">James D. Long</a> and <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/victor-menaldo/">Victor Menaldo</a> discuss how scientific inquiry is conducted in political economy and public policy – the pitfalls of relying on intuition and ideology when deciding on policy – and how to ensure that dysfunctional approaches to solving problems get weeded out.</p> <p>The conversation repeatedly makes references to a <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/2020/09/10/ronald-coases-contribution-to-evidence-based-policy-by-victor-menaldo/">recent post on Ronald Coase’s contribution to evidence-based policymaking</a> as well as <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/2020/06/27/what-would-evidence-based-policy-look-like-if-we-took-it-seriously-by-victor-menaldo/">a more general post</a> on the topic by Victor Menaldo.</p> <p>Produced by <a href="https://sites.uw.edu/uwpoliticaleconomy/nicolas-wittstock/">Nicolas Wittstock</a></p> <p>Any questions or feedback, please contact <a href="mailto:uwpoliticaleconomy@gmail.com">uwpoliticaleconomy@gmail.com</a></p>