ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with two concepts: public intellectuals and the space of opinion. Economists from elite institutions as well as think tank-affiliated experts have not only outstanding positions within the opinion space of Project Syndicate (ProSyn): They are also to be found most often among intellectuals contributing to ProSyn, which suggests that modelling the structure of opinion spaces is a good method for identifying niches for intellectuals. Trans-national opinion spaces seem to be marked by a clear hierarchy of academic disciplines that gives much more space for economists and political scientists than all other scholars. Anticipating the outbreak of World War II, Julien Benda warned that intellectuals should not endorse interests in the name of a nation, a class or a race, but stays other worldly philosopher-kings in their ivory-towers. Anders Aslund, fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, sheds light on why Putin is credited with political and economic stability.
