Economists in public discourses The case of wealth and inheritance taxation in the German press

In this chapter, I investigate the role of economists in public discourses. Conceptually, I draw on the recent ‘cultural turns’ in regulation theory and post-Marxist thinking, and in particular the work of Bob Jessop and Antonio Gramsci in their discussion of intellectuals and their role in society. Empirically, the role of economists is investigated drawing on the example of wealth and inheritance taxation in the German press in the beginning of the 21st century. The empirical analysis shows that well-known economists frequently occur in the newspaper coverage. Furthermore, a stark dominance of economists associated with mainstream economics and ordoliberalism over post-Keynesian and other heterodox economists is revealed. Given the role of economists as organic intellectuals in the political economy, this points to a continuing legitimation and normalisation of the structural power of the capital class to assert their interests regarding low wealth and inheritance taxation.