Lessons from the Laureates

Breit, William; Hirsch, Barry T.

Lessons from the Laureates

LIVES OF THE LAUREATES: TWENTY-THREE NOBEL ECONOMISTS, Fifth Edition, William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch, eds., Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2009

21 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2009

See all articles by William Breit

Barry T. Hirsch

IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Georgia State University

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 17, 2009

Abstract

This paper uses as source material twenty-three autobiographical essays by Nobel economists presented since 1984 at Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas) and published in Lives of the Laureates (MIT Press). A goal of the lecture series is to enhance understanding of the link between biography and the development of modern economic thought. We explore this link and identify common themes in the essays, relying heavily on the words of the laureates. Common themes include the importance of real-world events coupled with a desire for rigor and relevance, the critical influence of teachers, the necessity of scholarly interaction, and the role of luck or happenstance. Most of the laureates view their research program not as one planned in advance but one that evolved via the marketplace for ideas.

Keywords: Nobel economists, economic thought, autobiography

JEL Classification: B3, B2, A1

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Breit, William and Hirsch, Barry T. and Hirsch, Barry T., Lessons from the Laureates (January 17, 2009). LIVES OF THE LAUREATES: TWENTY-THREE NOBEL ECONOMISTS, Fifth Edition, William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch, eds., Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1329385