ABSTRACT
Economic policy advisers come in various sizes, shapes, and flavors. It may be useful to construct a simple taxonomy. One distinction suggested by Alvin Gouldner is between intellectuals in the vanguard of a popular movement and technical intelligentsia who simply serve those in power (Gouldner 1979). A more fine-grained categorization is possible within these two types. Within the technical intelligentsia there are economists who are prepared to hold a mirror for princes, or to serve presidents, so long as they may remain true to their principles in so doing. Martin Feldstein fits in this category, resigning from the Reagan administration when it acted on principles with which he had no sympathy. Also within the technical intelligentsia are economists like Arthur Okun who, as chair of Lyndon Johnson’s CEA, disagreed with the administration but remained to confront it in private. The most reprehensible variant of the technical intelligentsia, presumably, is the economist who is prepared to advise princes, no matter how distasteful their objectives or methods.
