Our bias is the market

A recent editorial has resurrected the old boogeyman of bias at Canadian research institutes, including the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. The editorial was inspired by a New York Times article, which called into question the Brookings Institution, one of the most-influential think tanks in the United States.

Accusing someone of bias has long been a subtle way to impugn someone’s motivations. Calling into question supposed bias is usually a sign of lacking an argument or evidence of one’s own.

“The idea is that it’s scholarly research, even if the institutes have their own clear ideological bent,” the editorial argues. “In fact, it’s fair to suggest that there might be bias not in how a study was done, but in exactly what you chose to study.”

It is perfectly fair to suggest that there is a bias in someone’sresearch, but it is less fair to intimate that there is something nefarious or hidden going on as a result.

The notion that anyone can be completely unbiased is a benevolent fic…