In Sweden, Anti–Globalizationists Dominate Public Discourse, Econ Profs Do Little

In recent years, globalization and its consequences have become hotly debated issues. In Europe, non-governmental organizations like Attac have argued that free trade and free capital movements favor large corporations and rich countries, while poor countries are treated unfairly. These ideas have gained wide-spread attention in the media. But globalization is also a large research area in economics, so there is a golden opportunity for economists to disseminate their knowledge to the interested public. In this article, we investigate to what extent Swedish professors, with publications in the relevant fields of research, actually take part in the public discourse on globalization. We find that the professors are virtually absent in the debate and we discuss possible causes and consequences of this inactivity.