MAKRO: Mapping Alternative Knowledge Resources and Obtainment in Macroeconomics
Name of applicant
Oddny Helgadottir
Title
Associate Professor
Institution
Copenhagen Business School
Amount
DKK 4,998,449
Year
2023
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Accelerate
What?
Mainstream macroeconomics failed both to predict the 2008 global financial crisis and to provide concrete policy guidance after it. This has opened up active competition over how to interpret macroeconomic patterns for the first time in nearly half a century. We examine how key media sites, both traditional and new, have responded to contemporary macroeconomic conditions and challenges since then.
Why?
Scholars have not paid enough attention to economic ideas coming from media, even when they have had a clear impact on policy and market behavior. This means that the momentum of alternative ideas, sometimes characterized as ‘populist’, comes as a shock for traditional political analysis. A better understanding is crucial, especially in crises that strain public trust in economic governance.
How?
We systematically examine both traditional and digital media sites using a combination of methods: First, we use Natural Language Processing—the methodology that is behind e.g. Google Translate and ChatGPT—and Social Network Analysis to find interesting large-scale patterns in the data. We then unpack those patterns with thematic analysis that provides nuance and context.