Language and economics: mutual incompatibilities, or a necessary partnership?

Misunderstandings between economic approaches to language andthe fieldof language policy/language planning arise from deficiencies in the literature of both camps. This paper examines four examples: (1) liaison interpreting, where traditional economic analysis points to surprisingbenefits of engaging interpreters,often not recognised by practitioners themselves; (2) sometimes exaggeratedclaims by language professionals for the economic benefits of studying languages; (3) unresolved issues in language use in international organisations and trade; and (4) misinterpretations of links between multilingualism and disadvantage. Lack of understanding by economists of language issues is oftenmatchedby illiteracyin economics on the part of language professionals.