Why economists are learning to speak human

IN RECENT months, the phrase “cost-of-living crisis” has been everywhere. This week, it surfaced in a slightly surprising setting: on stage at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) spring meetings.

The context was a talk that I gave about what anthropology can offer economists. Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, used the phrase when she noted that social science can help us make sense of economic challenges.

To ordinary mortals, that might sound obvious. But some of the economists in the room recoiled. “No one talked about a ‘cost-of-living crisis’ at the IMF a few years ago,” one muttered to me afterwards. Instead, he observed, “they just said ‘inflation’”.