Paul Romer: Ideas are important! And data too!
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A few years ago, I almost won a bet with a former Chair of the Economics Department at Georgetown that Paul Romer would be the next Nobel prize. Now, William Nordhaus and Paul Romer have jointly been awarded this year's Nobel.
“One of Romer’s first big contributions was to show that “ideas” were the missing ingredient of economic growth, contributing as much as the traditional inputs of labour, skills and physical capital — and that this could help explain the big variation in growth and living standards between otherwise similar countries.” (from FT)
Paul Romer was also the World Bank Chief Economist for 18 months until last January.
He resigned by saying:
“I've never in my professional life encountered professional economists who say so many things that are easy to check and turn out not to be true. Imagine a field of science in which people publish research papers with data that are obviously fabricated.” (referring to the interview with WSJ below ).
“I don’t want to pick fights or be a scold,” he said, adding that what had bothered him was not criticism, but “the pretense that you can be a good member of the scientific community if you’re not willing to engage with people who don’t agree with you”.
(from Financial Times, January 25, 2018)
Romer is a stickler for clear communication, having in the past accused rival economists of excessive “mathiness” and issued diktats on grammar and complains of style to World Bank staff, including for overuse of the word "and".
From The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2018:
"The World Bank repeatedly changed the methodology of one of its flagship economic reports over several years in ways it now says were unfair and misleading. The World Bank's chief economist, Paul Romer, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday he would correct and recalculate national rankings of business competitiveness in the report called "Doing Business" going back at least four years. The revisions could be particularly relevant to Chile, whose standings have been volatile in recent years—and potentially tainted by political motivations of World Bank staff, Mr. Romer said.
…
"Chile's overall ranking has fluctuated between 25th and 57th since 2006. During that period, the presidency of Chile has alternated between Ms. Bachelet, of Chile's socialist party, and Sebastián Piñera, a conservative. Under Ms. Bachelet, Chile's ranking consistently deteriorated, while it consistently climbed under Mr. Piñera. Recalculating the numbers could show significant changes to other countries as well."
COMMENTS
Bill Nordhaus fue mi compañero de clase durante 4 años en Andover. Siempre fue brillante y muy medido en sus opiniones.
Carlos M. de la Cruz, Sr
New York
A few years ago, I almost won a bet with a former Chair of the Economics Department at Georgetown that Paul Romer would be the next Nobel prize. Now, William Nordhaus and Paul Romer have jointly been awarded this year's Nobel.
“One of Romer’s first big contributions was to show that “ideas” were the missing ingredient of economic growth, contributing as much as the traditional inputs of labour, skills and physical capital — and that this could help explain the big variation in growth and living standards between otherwise similar countries.” (from FT)
Paul Romer was also the World Bank Chief Economist for 18 months until last January.
He resigned by saying:
“I've never in my professional life encountered professional economists who say so many things that are easy to check and turn out not to be true. Imagine a field of science in which people publish research papers with data that are obviously fabricated.” (referring to the interview with WSJ below ).
“I don’t want to pick fights or be a scold,” he said, adding that what had bothered him was not criticism, but “the pretense that you can be a good member of the scientific community if you’re not willing to engage with people who don’t agree with you”.
(from Financial Times, January 25, 2018)
Romer is a stickler for clear communication, having in the past accused rival economists of excessive “mathiness” and issued diktats on grammar and complains of style to World Bank staff, including for overuse of the word "and".
From The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2018:
"The World Bank repeatedly changed the methodology of one of its flagship economic reports over several years in ways it now says were unfair and misleading. The World Bank's chief economist, Paul Romer, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday he would correct and recalculate national rankings of business competitiveness in the report called "Doing Business" going back at least four years. The revisions could be particularly relevant to Chile, whose standings have been volatile in recent years—and potentially tainted by political motivations of World Bank staff, Mr. Romer said.
…
"Chile's overall ranking has fluctuated between 25th and 57th since 2006. During that period, the presidency of Chile has alternated between Ms. Bachelet, of Chile's socialist party, and Sebastián Piñera, a conservative. Under Ms. Bachelet, Chile's ranking consistently deteriorated, while it consistently climbed under Mr. Piñera. Recalculating the numbers could show significant changes to other countries as well."
COMMENTS
Bill Nordhaus fue mi compañero de clase durante 4 años en Andover. Siempre fue brillante y muy medido en sus opiniones.
Carlos M. de la Cruz, Sr
New York