What viewpoint? Getting a PhD is a matter of 1) passing technical qualifying exams and 2) producing research of a reasonable quality. Most of the time the resea

What viewpoint? Getting a PhD is a matter of 1) passing technical qualifying exams and 2) producing research of a reasonable quality. Most of the time the research will be very narrow in focus with no broader policy implications. At no point is your adherence to some free market ideological viewpoint tested out. You highlight Stiglitz and Krugman as exceptions - but the fact that they won Nobels for their academic work suggests that economic theory itself does not directly lead to policy recommendations.