When teaching about history or philosophy, I always stress the importance of studying economics if one wishes really to understand the serious problems. Economics isn’t by any means the only useful discipline, but it certainly provides a helpful set of tools. One can’t be a good philosopher, political theorists, or historian (or jurisprude, anthropologist, sociologist, etc.) if one is ignorant of economics. The internet has proven good for economists who can explain, and some of them have taken to the web to share their insights with the rest of us. I’ve mentioned such sources of useful explanations as EconLib.org, CafeHayek, MarginalRevolution, and Robert Samuelson. To that list, let me add The Econoclast. It’s lively, enjoyable, and fun. (And it’s run by a Palmer, Professor John Palmer of the University of Western Ontario.)
Although I second your remarks, I wish to add the warning that most economists know little to nothing other than economics. They tend to think that everything is economics; they tend to think that economics can provide solutions to and explanations of all social and political problems; and they tend to be woefully ignorant of the non-economic philosophical assumptions underlying their work. If you think that’s too much of a generalization, fine, but it happens to be my experience.
I agree with all of F.A.’s remarks. It’s a shame that too many economists think that they can approach a topic, read a book or two, and then tell scholars in that discipline what it all “really means.” I should add that economists should be aquainted with history, with different forms of causal explanation, with moral and political philosophy, and so on, if they wish to be really good social scientists.
Overall, I think that the other disciplines can improve what they do by incorporating at least some basic economic insights, than the economists could improve theirs by incorporating (or sometimes merely making explicit) insights from other disciplines. But that the enrichment is not all one way is certainly true.
what is the importance of studying economics?
and
what is economics?