Today’s economics PhD programs overwhelmingly focus on producing academic researchers who aim to publish in a small group of elite U.S. journals. This narrow path stifles creativity, discourages problem-driven research, and fails to prepare economists for impactful roles in government, business, and society.
The authors point to a past when Swedish economists like Gunnar Myrdal and Knut Wicksell were public intellectuals, shaping debates and policies. That tradition is fading. Now, top journal publications—often achieved by partnering with American academics—are treated as the only meaningful career success. But the odds of publishing in these journals are slim, and the cost is high: years of work on a single paper, often with little reward.
