Politicians should listen to and argue with academic economists but not ¡°submit¡± to them, according to Michael Gove, the UK¡¯s former education secretary.

In a debate with Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King¡¯s College London, the Conservative MP also complained that academics¡¯ ¡°natural tendency¡± to ¡°veer to the left¡± had led to a ¡°monoculture in some disciplines¡±.

The event was held after Professor Portes challenged Mr Gove on Twitter over the ex-minister¡¯s defining soundbite of the European Union referendum campaign, that?¡°people in this country have had enough of experts¡±. Leave-supporting Mr Gove, on being asked why his predictions for the?post-Brexit British economy contradicted the views of the International Monetary Fund, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Confederation of British Industry and others, had attacked ¡°organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong¡±.

Opening the debate, held on 16 March by the independent research group UK in a Changing Europe, Professor Portes suggested that?Mr Gove had often been ¡°quite happy to fall back on experts¡± and even quote ¡°organisations with acronyms¡± when it suited his political purposes.?

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While economists had a responsibility to ¡°explain [their] basic concepts in clear terms¡±, they also had a duty to?¡°synthesise the consensus of experts¡± for the public and politicians, and to ¡°call out bullshit¡±, such as the claim by some pro-Brexit groups that new trade deals could create 400,000 jobs in the UK, Professor Portes said.

Mr Gove countered, arguing that the ¡°level of predictability in the physical sciences is much higher than in the social sciences¡±. He said that his comment about experts had referred to organisations such as the?Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development?(OECD) and the IMF, which had warned that the British economy ¡°would take an immediate hit¡± from Brexit, and Mr Gove argued that they had been proved wrong.

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Professor Portes said that?macroeconomic forecasting was?only a minor strand in what economists did, and that on smaller issues such as ¡°the impact of being in the EU on trade¡±, academics could ¡°put the data on a graph and show the lessons of history¡±.

While agreeing that ¡°the past can help us understand the future¡±, Mr Gove stated there was ¡°almost always another perspective we need to know about¡±. Although politicians ought to listen to economic experts, it should be on the basis of ¡°challenge¡± rather than ¡°submission¡±. The most effective ministers ¡°listen[ed] to a range of views and argue[d] with them¡±, he said.

In addition, Mr Gove cited warnings that ¡°the natural tendency of academics to veer towards the left had now led to a monoculture in some disciplines¡±.

¡°Progress in the past¡±, he reminded the audience, ¡°has been driven by radicals, mavericks, people outside the consensus¡±, so it was always worth looking out for ¡°the grit in oyster, the dissident in the academy¡±.

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matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com