Peter Radford — Irving Fisher and inequality

Economics became a massive social experiment. Economists began tinkering with society even while being oblivious to the fact that they were tinkering. Innocent or not – and I still believe that some economists knew full well they what they were doing – the mainstream drew to itself a massive ethical responsibility that it has never to this day recognized. Namely that if your advice is based upon some theory that assumes away most if not all social reality, and that it then has the effect of altering the reality it presumes to model, you had better be damned sure both theory and advice do no harm. Hiding behind idealized theoretical constructs is not acceptable. When you seek to bend real social relations to mimic those of your theory you had better be prepared to be called to task for any consequences society might not like. The loss of democracy being high on that list. 

Or is it that many mainstream economists simply have a contempt for democracy because it muddies their pristine theoretical waters?

Neoliberalism is a normatively based social and political philosophy being foisted on the world as "science" that described laws of nature, such that there is no alternative to adopting its prescriptions in order to achieve an optimal outcome. In fact, it is further claimed that deviating from these "laws" will result in disaster.

Real-World Economics Review Blog
Irving Fisher and inequality
Peter Radford