A Tribute to Peter Bauer

Abstract

Peter Bauer (Lord Bauer) was an economist of considerable influence, particularly on the prevailing wisdom about the value of foreign aid ('government-to-government transfers', as he preferred to call it). Shortly before his death in May 2002, he received the prestigious first award of the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty from the Cato Institute in Washington DC.

This volume begins with a transcript of a conversation with Lord Bauer in which he speaks about his career, his interactions with other economists and his contributions to economic analysis. Following that, there is a speech by John Blundell, made at the Friedman Prize award ceremony which came just after Lord Bauer's death.

The final section contains ten tributes to Lord Bauer, written by distinguished economists who knew him well, who appreciated his influence and who saw his work from different perspectives. They provide an appraisal of the life and work of a great economist who fundamentally affected the analysis of economic development.

Keywords: Peter Bauer, foreign aid, Friedman Prize, development economics, global poverty, classical economic thought

JEL Classification: F1, F10, F34, F35, B25, O1, O11