appeal to "authority"

[pvn]

Why appeal to authority, even when that authority is an "expert" in the field, is a fallacy:

http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?typ...ase&ID=106

[ QUOTE ]
Can 364 economists all be wrong?

In 1981 almost the entire economics profession – 364 academic economists including many professors at leading universities – signed a letter to The Times [of London] in response to Geoffrey Howe’s budget arguing that the government’s economic policy was fatally flawed, had no basis in economic theory and should be abandoned in favour of alternative policies.

A new report by the Institute of Economic Affairs provides evidence to suggest that the 364 economists were all wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]