Macroeconomics Isn't All Ideology

An old debate has cropped up recently about whether economists beliefs in macro are just reflections of their ideological commitments. Russ Roberts says yes, Noah Smith says sometimes, Paul Krugman says not his. If you had to pick a crux of the debate it would be this claim by Roberts:

The evidence for the Keynesian worldview is very mixed. Most economists come down in favor or against it because of their prior ideological beliefs. Krugman is a Keynesian because he wants bigger government. I’m an anti-Keynesian because I want smaller government.

I would like to argue with two parts of this. First, most economists beliefs on the effectiveness of Keynesian policies aren't motivated by how big they want the government to be. Second, the record does not suggest this for Paul Krugman either.

Source Forbes - Business http://ift.tt/1MdLATb