I& #39;m seeing little eddies of discontent about economics v. epidemiology.

I& #39;ve been party to *tons* of economics discussions over recent weeks, and this really isn& #39;t a thing.

Economists have been reading epi, we& #39;re trying to understand epi models, we& #39;re using epi insights as inputs into our models, and we& #39;re exploring where economics can add something.

With few exceptions (yes, there are a handful), there& #39;s enormous respect for epi within economics.

Of course, we economists don& #39;t always help ourselves. We& #39;re too blunt, sometimes obnoxious, often over-confident, and we love to argue.

I& #39;ll concede we& #39;re not uniformly strong on soft skills. As a result we& #39;re often perceived to be more confrontational than we intend.

Where there is a real divide is between social scientists (including both econs and epis) and elements of the business community.

The "open the economy" argument isn& #39;t coming from econs or epis, but from (mainly) bankers and billionaires (and a few libertarians).

Business is often driven by self interest.

Economics isn& #39;t about supporting business, or "the economy." It& #39;s about maximizing human flourishing. Understanding self-interest is part of that, as is understanding that self-interest can lead people to do enormous harm to others.