Larry Summers is a good example of why economists should not be seen as some kind of meta-authority on public policy. Economics is not and never has been primarily about human rights or dignity. Summers is especially bad, but this is just generally true. 1/

When they teach Econ policy courses at HKS, moral questions are generally seen as out of scope EXCEPT for whether a policy encourages or discourages work. Amazingly, that’s either seen as not a value judgment, or the only acceptable one. 2/

Economists don’t spend much time thinking about the non-economic consequences of getting priced out of a market for health care or housing. They have no real incentives to do so. 3/

“Stimulus” is a specific type of goal that does not necessarily require protecting the economic dignity of all people. You can achieve it in other ways too, and those are moral choices. We need to stop turning to economists all the time to answer those Qs. 4/

Policy makers govern societies, not economies. Larry Summers and all economists are experts in *economies.* Their perspectives are incomplete just like everybody else’s and there are limits to their expertise. 5/

Oh and here is another thing they aren’t qualified to advise on: the actual implementation of these means tested programs they are constantly pushing https://twitter.com/jonwalkerdc/status/1343297225598726144