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Issue no. 193 April 2021 www.res.org.uk | @RoyalEconSoc

A Farewell Letter from America Sir Angus Deaton writes to us one last time CONTENTS

Inside this issue… APRIL 2021 | ISSUE NO. 193

major shocks to economic activity leave long shadows see page 12

01 THE EDITORIAL 12 THE COVID-19 RECESSION 20 THE WOMEN’S COMMITTEE AND HEALTH Endings and new beginnings: a brief How concrete steps on recruitment introduction to the redesigned April James Banks, Heidi Karjalainen, and could improve the representation of 2021 issue, from the new editor Dame Carol Propper consider how women in economics the Covid-19 recession will influence future health 02 LETTER FROM… 21 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL The farewell Letter from America by An update on a year in the life of 15 AN UPDATE FROM THE Sir Angus Deaton, reflecting on past the Economic Journal, based on the ECONOMICS NETWORK Letters, and his life and times detailed report for 2020 Alvin Birdi and Caroline Elliott take stock on the pivot to 07 LETTER FROM… HIGHLIGHTS 22 OBITUARIES teaching online, and describe the Highlights from the Letters from ongoing response of the An obituary for Domenico Mario America, chosen by the editor, and Economics Network Nuti, prepared by Joseph Halevi an appreciation from Peter Howells and Peter Kriesler 18 COMMENT 10 PROFILE 23 NEWS A comment from Jan Toporowski, From Marshall to obesity, and other and a response from the original A selection of news items, including discoveries: a question-and-answer authors, Roger Backhouse and a new Joint Managing Editor for the profile of Dame Rachel Griffith James Forder Economic Journal

@RoyalEconSoc | www.linkedin.com/company/royal-economic-society | www.youtube.com/user/RoyalEconomicSociety EDITORIAL 01

The editor: JONATHAN TEMPLE

A guide to the April issue

his is an issue of endings oline Elliott takes stock of online and new beginnings. Sir teaching and the response of the TAngus Deaton has contrib- Economics Network. For more uted a much-admired Letter from information on economics and the America every six months for pandemic, see the Covid-19 hub on twenty-five years, but has decided the RES website. that the one in this issue will be Another beginning will be obvi- his last. His farewell Letter is a ous: our new look. We hope you retrospective, longer than usual, like it. The issue would not have and reminds us of what we will been possible in this form without be missing. We also present some the unstinting help of the outgoing highlights from his past Letters. editor, Peter Howells, and the new My hope is that the latter feature designer, Phil McAllister. Many will be as much fun to read as it thanks to them both, and to Helen was to prepare, and I would like to Miller and Julia Randall-Edwards thank Angus for his illuminating for their advice and guidance. contributions over so many years. Finally, the previous issue The new beginnings include the included an excellent piece on the first in a series of profiles of lead- history of economic thought by ing economists, which will often Roger Backhouse and James Forder. feature economists connected to In this issue, Jan Toporowski the RES. We start with a Past RES responds. He draws on the work of Another beginning President, Dame Rachel Griffith. Gunnar Myrdal to argue that eco- will be obvious: our Elsewhere in the issue, you can nomics is often, or even always, pol- new look. We hope find an article by James Banks, itics in another guise. The original Heidi Karjalainen, and Dame Carol authors provide a measured reply. you like it Propper on the long-run effects of Some economists would have chosen the Covid-19 recession on health. to be less measured – but that is for A feature by Alvin Birdi and Car- each reader to decide. 02 LETTER FROM…

Letter from America: ANGUS DEATON

A Farewell Letter from America After twenty-five years of writing for theNewsletter , Sir Angus Deaton contributes his final Letter from America, in which he reflects on pastLetters , economics, and his life and times

hen I was a Research the admirable Peter Howells, who who had built their own lives in Officer in the Department has been a model of punctuality, Chicago and New York. Wof Applied Economics in encouragement, and appreciation. More ominously, non-citizens Cambridge in the early 1970s, I The Letter helped me learn to have always been at risk in the US, was befriended by Thelma Liesner, write for a non-specialist audi- especially after 9/11, even before then Thelma Seward. When she ence, or at least a non-specialist the horrors of Trump. Under the became Editor of the Newsletter audience of economists, a half-way Patriot Act of 2001 (“Inequality in 1995, and after I had moved house that is much easier than in America”, April 2002), univer- to Princeton, she remembered writing for newspapers. It allowed sities were commanded to hand me and, because she was a fan of me to write about things that over personnel files of non-citizens Alistair Cooke’s Letter from Amer- interested me but didn’t always on demand, and prohibited from ica on BBC Radio 4, she suggested I know much about, and I am grate- divulging that they had done so. In might write a Letter about economic ful for my readers’ forbearance. my own case, I (think I) suffered events in America. She suggested Writing the Letter has rarely felt nothing worse than the boorish the budget, which I never did like work, more often joy. Many attentions of an immigration officer, write about, if only because, unlike have been kind enough to say nice who took a dislike to me, tore up Britain where the contents of the things over the years, and it seems my green card, and turned my life budget become law, the American that many readers know of me into a bureaucratic hell that lasted “budget” is a fantasy wish list that only through the Newsletter. for more than a year. As President the White House sends to Congress I moved to Princeton from Bris- Obama writes in his autobiog- each year. But I did find other tol in 1983. I have never given up raphy, immigrants “are always things to write about—this is my my British citizenship, and did not afraid that the life you’d worked so 50th letter—and found an ideal become an American citizen until hard to build might be upended in outlet in the Newsletter, always 2012, in part because, until Obama an instant.” Even after that near attractively produced, relatively became president, I was less than upending, I was deterred from short, and with news, professional enthusiastic about swearing alle- applying by the impossible require- information, and obituaries. I was giance to the United States and ment that I document every trip always pleased when it landed on its leadership. But as the years abroad for the last 30 years, until my desk and always looked at it, passed, it seemed perverse not to I eventually realized that, for the and others appeared to do so too. acknowledge that my home was earlier trips, their records were no Thelma retired in 1997, and here, not to mention the homes better than mine. And Anne found since then I have worked with of my children and grandchildren my old passports in the basement. LETTER FROM… 03

Once I decided to apply for the Delaware?) As a final hurdle, citizenship, the lights turned on, with no chance to prepare, on the and the agency that I’d seen as a day of the ceremony, I was asked at Writing the Letter has persecutor became my friend. The the door whether, in the two weeks rarely felt like work, bureaucracy could not have been since I had passed the test, I had more often joy more helpful—votes matter—and I worked as a prostitute. My late col- even qualified for a special old-age league, Uwe Reinhardt, claimed to dispensation that allowed me to have answered “I have long looked answer correctly only 12 out of 20 for something in that line of work, possible questions (instead of 60 but so far without success.” At the out of 100), many of which had the ceremony, the immigration official same answer. (What is the capi- who welcomed the new Americans tal of America? Who was the first began by telling us that voting president? Who famously crossed was not an important part of citi- 04 LETTER FROM…

zenship, something that I already knew to be false. I resisted the urge to raise my hand. That I long did not become American reflected real ambiva- lence, admiring many aspects of American life while watching oth- ers with fascinated horror. Both reactions are well represented in the Letters. I frequently wrote about the immense prosperity of American institutions like Prince- ton, how their riches were put at the service of scholarship, but how wealthy universities, faced with (relative) adversity after the finan- cial crisis, acted to protect their endowments, rather than using them to ride out the crash (“Moon over Texas,” October 2010). I wrote Anne Case and Angus Deaton (image: Rebecca Wilcox, about some of the best of Amer- Purdue University) ican economics, how immensely distinguished scholars—and oth- few journals, several not under hard to tell what subjects they ers—served changing administra- professional control, gives great cover, or whether economics has a tions in Washington (“News for leeway to strong-minded and recognizable core. Perhaps that is parrots,” April 2001). About how sometimes idiosyncratic editors all to the good. the National Bureau of Economic who push their own views of what The American profession can Research, under its longtime pres- is good economics, regardless of look after itself, but publication ident (the late) Marty Feldstein, whether the journals are owned in these same top journals has generated a stream of invaluable by a professional association. It increasingly been used to assess externalities to the profession is hard to start a new journal, let young economists around the (“Economists without borders,” alone a top journal, and the rents world, risking the demise of distinct October 1998). are sometimes subverted to idio- approaches and schools that one The Newsletter, with an audi- syncratic agendas. day will be necessary for economics ence of economists, was a venue In one Letter in 2007, I wrote to evolve or to save it from exces- where I could write about the positively about the extraordinary sive American inbreeding. And American profession, again with breadth of research by job-market even within the US, I wrote of my both admiration and horror. Eco- candidates, in contrast to how horror at being told in a post-job- nomics remains extraordinarily economics had been in 1983 when market seminar office visit that, for open to new ideas and to young I first arrived in Princeton, a time the candidate, whose talk demon- people; in the US, there are still when theorists, empiricists and strated great virtuosity but neither plenty of jobs, and talented people econometricians were all working concern for nor awareness of previ- can still be tenured at top univer- on different parts of what was ous scholarship or approaches, the sities in their 20s. The American recognizably the same (price the- main threat to productivity was the profession’s susceptibility to fads is ory) elephant (“Random walks by amount of top-journal refereeing perhaps a consequence, though at young economists”, April 2007). graduate students were expected 75, I doubt that I am a good judge. Of course, it was a myopic ele- to do. In such an environment, If the profession does well by the phant that knew little about pov- fads spread fast, and knowledge young, it does much less well by erty, inequality, race, or health, cannot cumulate. In contrast, I told women; as the number of female leaving such topics to other social a story from the 1970s about an economists grows so, rightly, do scientists. Of those job market elderly Italian economist who, after the protests about how badly they papers, I wrote that it was often several glasses of brunello, splut- are treated in seminars and in the hard to tell to which field of eco- tered with rage (and wine) about refereeing process. nomics they belonged. Today, the a new journal (I suspect it was I have written (perhaps too divergence has gone further, so the then newly-founded European often) about the publication pro- that, for example, looking at the Economic Review) sending papers cess, which today seems badly contents of recent issues of the to “unknown readers,” a procedure broken. The dominance of the top American Economic Review, it is that was an affront to age and dig- LETTER FROM… 05

nity, and indeed to the orderly pro- tion, and still today an item of unsafe in politics and unsound in duction of knowledge. At the time, I faith on the right, where free-mar- morals.’ He was remembered annu- thought our new world was better, ket fundamentalists believe there ally after 1962 through the Richard that meritocracy (and unknown is no problem that markets cannot Ely lecture at the annual meetings. readers) were good things. Now, I solve. One of my ongoing sorrows In 2020, the Executive of the AEA am not so sure. (And I am increas- about economics is that, amid the removed Ely’s name from the lec- ingly fond of brunello.) cacophony of our conflicting recom- ture, not because of his views on I frequently wrote about aspects mendations, we have not been able laissez-faire, but because he “wrote of American inequality, not only in to help politicians and the public approvingly of slavery and eugen- income and wealth, but inequality understand important, but per- ics, inveighed against immigrants, across race and citizenship, and haps not so obvious things, like the and favored segregation,” views my evolving understanding that fact that free markets can’t deliver inconsistent with the AEA’s code of the American government, unlike healthcare. The piece was picked professional conduct. In “America the British government, which up by one of the health columnists wakes up to inequality,” April 2014, my parents and I had confidently in the New York Times, and my I wrote warmly about Woodrow looked to for protection, was fre- hip became famous. At my son’s Wilson, a contemporary of Ely, quently an oppressor, more often wedding, a guest asked who I was, who struggled (in the end unsuc- redistributing up than down. One and when told flashed immediate cessfully) against inequality and of my colleagues in 1983 liked recognition, “aah, you’re the man privilege at Princeton, and (with to proclaim that “government is with the hip.” more success) in the United States theft.” I was appalled, but have In one Letter, when I was Pres- (he was President when the Consti- learned how often it is true. Mem- ident of the American Economic tutional Amendments for women’s bers of Congress impeded regu- Association, I noted my surprise suffrage and the income tax were lators from stopping opioid man- at discovering that the AEA was implemented). He too was “can- ufacturers and distributors from founded five years before the Royal celed” by Princeton in 2020, in part addicting and killing tens of thou- Economic Society, which began for segregating the federal govern- sands of less-educated Americans, in 1890 as the British Economic ment’s workforce, and his name no and they have consistently—across Association, and whose founding longer appears on the School where both parties—prevented attempts meeting was attended by Edwin I once taught and worked. Amer- to rein in the depredations of a Cannan, Francis Ysidro Edge- ica—at least in part—has come to healthcare system that absorbs a worth, Robert Giffen, Neville understand that inequality is about fifth of GDP. There are five health- Keynes, George Bernard Shaw, more than money. care lobbyists in Washington for and Alfred and Mary Paley Mar- Anne and I spend a month every every member of Congress. shall. Richard T. Ely, a founder of summer in Montana, a break that Many Letters were about Amer- the AEA, and its sixth president keeps us sane, and the state itself, ican healthcare, whose horrors are in 1900-1901, was a leader of the where I usually write the fall Letter, an endless source of amazement Progressive Movement, and wrote, has often made an appearance. The and amusement to British eyes. as part of the AEA’s platform, great cosmopolitan universities on Perhaps the highpoint was about that ‘the doctrine of laissez-faire is the coasts (Atlantic, Pacific, and my own hip replacement (“Trying to be a good hip-op consumer”, April 2006), trying to find a good surgeon in the first place (“He’s the guy who did the Pope, but he’s past it”) and being mistaken for someone else at 3.00 am by a terrifyingly insistent nurse armed with drugs and needles. The point of the piece was to document the absurdity of expecting consumers to shop for healthcare as they shop for other items, an idea then being pushed by the Bush administra-

The Madison Valley and Madison Range in Montana, sometimes mentioned in the Letters, including this Farewell Letter 06 LETTER FROM…

Lake Michigan) are astonishingly have good reason to mourn the disconnected from much of America, decline of unions. The intense making it hard for those of us who political reactions to the work from work in them to sympathize with deeply interested parties, espe- or understand the way that many cially the fast-food industry, would Americans think. This includes have been no surprise to Adam their historically well-founded sus- Smith when he wrote about “The picion and detestation of the Fed- clamour of our merchants… for the eral Government. They often see support of their own absurd and federal regulations as attempts by oppressive monopolies.” outsiders to make them behave like I also had the special pleasure extras in the theme parks where of writing about the events around those outsiders come to play, outsid- the Nobel Prize. One highpoint ers who have little understanding of Princeton University, home to that stays with me (“Special edi- the ever more limited employment Sir Angus Deaton since 1983 tion from Stockholm and Wash- opportunities for them and for their ington,” April 2016) was an event children. You are unlikely to meet that has not taken place since someone in Princeton who has had 2016, which is the reception in the four children serve in the US mili- Oval Office of each year’s Ameri- tary. I drew a parallel—that I con- Economics remains can laureates. President Obama tinue to see as real—between the extraordinarily open to new opened the door himself, and as I regulations that bother Montana shook his hand, I gestured towards farmers, and the increasing meth- ideas and to young people Anne behind me, beginning “I odological regulation of academic would like to introduce. . .” which research, from which economics was as far as I got. “Professor Case is far from exempt (“Your wolf is needs no introduction to me, and interfering with my t-value,” scientific content in economics.” now we are going to discuss the October 2012). He went on to congratulate him- paper that you have both written.” My firstLetter , in October 1996, self and the rest of the profession, The paper—the first one of our was about the minimum wage, but presumably neither Card nor “deaths of despair” work—had particularly the then new work Krueger, for not being “a bevy of been published three days before, of my colleagues David Card and camp-following whores.” Another and he had read it carefully, and Alan Krueger, and I returned to notable economist, June O’Neill, suggested that we draw a parallel it two years ago after Alan died. noted, like a good Bayesian, that with the catastrophe in the Black I have never worked on the min- “theory is evidence too.” Of course, community forty years before, an imum wage, but the issues—how the profession, camp followers or idea we adopted in our book. There to do empirical work, how to bring not, understood that the empirical were no Nobel visits in the Trump evidence to bear on policy, the role result made sense if employers had years; I quoted the quip from a of theory, and the potential for monopsony power, but that fast New York Times op-ed, asking violent political controversy—are food restaurants could be monop- what Trump could possibly learn ones that I care about. sonists was itself seen as likely as from someone (Dick Thaler) who The minimum wage work, and water flowing freely uphill. works on the lack of self-control. its use of the natural experiment Jason Furman later wrote that In the next Letter (“On becoming methodology, seemed like magic Card and Krueger’s work changed superannuated,” October 2016), at the time, raising the curtain the minds of half of the profession, I recounted the story of how the on new possibilities of investiga- still a good description. In my Nobel magic brought humanity tion. As with all new methods, its own judgment, the accumulating and festivity to a dreary govern- problems became more apparent evidence supports their original ment benefit office. As my friend over time, but the history since results, as does the experience Danny Kahneman told me in 1994 is important and instruc- in Britain after 2000, and, as a 2002, the single best thing about tive. For many economists, the result, the importance of monop- the prize is, not the happiness it result that employment might go sony is more widely recognized, brings to the recipient, considera- up with an increase in the min- if far from universally so. This is ble though that is, but the happi- imum wage was obviously false. not just water flowing uphill, but ness it brings to other people. James Buchanan wrote that this a whole new world, in which the Writing these Letters has given was like claiming that water runs economy looks less like a benevo- me great pleasure, and I hope uphill, and was “equivalent to a lent market and more like a class that it has brought pleasure to my denial that there is even minimal struggle, in which working people readers too. LETTER FROM… HIGHLIGHTS 07

Letter from America: highlights The Letter from America in Retrospect

We present highlights chosen by the Editor

On social security funding, April 1997 was immediately denounced by 120 billion- The [American social security] system could aires (including George Soros, Bill Gates be made solvent for the next 75 years if père, and Warren Buffett) in an advertise- the current social security payroll tax were ment in the New York Times… raised from the current 12.4 percent to 14.6 percent, a solution that is about as likely as From a letter on American development universal health insurance, gun control or policy, October 2002 the abolition of the death penalty. The book [by William Easterly] ... will be much enjoyed by professional economists for On policy debates, October 1999 its exposition in intelligent lay language of … given the quality of much that is pub- how the technique of instrumental variables lished in both fields, it is hard to believe solves the causality problem. (The intelli- that peer-review in either economics or gent lay public is likely to doubt the sanity public health can bear the burden of certifi- of economists even further.) cation. When the results of working papers posted to the web instantaneously become part of the policy debate, traditional proce- Peter Howells, the former dures hardly seem adequate. Editor, writes: On economics and health research, When I took over from Thelma Liesner April 2000 in 1998, the ‘Letters from...’ America, … it is no longer unusual for economists to be France and Germany were a regular and asked to team up with doctors who fear that popular feature. I have lost count of the their research will not be funded without the number of times, at various RES events, presence of economists and their insights about that readers told me they enjoyed the behavior, for example about smoking or alcohol Newsletter and that it was worth reading consumption. These partnerships involve real for Angus’s letter alone. (I took this as mutual learning and are more evenly balanced a compliment in spite of its ambiguity.) than the much-noted imperialist excursions of Dealing with his letter was certainly one economics into other social sciences. Econom- of the easiest of my tasks as editor. It ics may be the 600 pound gorilla in the social was always on time (one needs to have sciences jungle, but it’s still a barely visible been an editor to appreciate what a rare creature in the Bethesda zoo. and valuable quality that is); it never needed any work; and above all it was On the new George W. Bush administra- always interesting to read. I am pleased tion, April 2001 to see that Angus has mentioned some [Larry] Lindsey has described the estate tax outstanding examples in his farewell (referred to by Republicans as the ‘death’ letter. I couldn’t have done that. They tax) as ‘the biggest impediment to capital were, all of them, gems. formation on the nation’s books.’ This view 08 LETTER FROM… HIGHLIGHTS

On the George W. Bush tax cuts, April 2003 Zero pure time preference, if it is a vice, is In Washington, there will be deficits for surely a minor one. Relying on markets to many years to come, in part in response to teach us ethics is very much worse. a weaker economy, but mostly as the result of tax cuts whose beneficiaries are typically On the Economic Journal, as part of a very well-off. In the states, most deficits letter on the AEA, April 2010 will be closed in a way that protects those The first issue of the Economic Journal who are benefiting from the federal tax cuts. starts with a statement of purpose by the There is no such protection for the elderly, Editor, Edgeworth, proclaiming that the the poor, and the sick. ‘difficulties of Socialism will be dealt with in the first number, and the difficulties of On American healthcare, April 2006 Individualism in the second.’ This situation has been compared by my Princeton colleague Uwe Reinhardt to shop- On economies and universities in reces- ping blindfold in a department store, and sion, October 2010 then months later being presented with a …economics has failed to set any limits on bill on which some items are charged at the public debate about cause and effect in full price, and some at some fraction of full macroeconomics… what people think is well price, but with no advance knowledge of predicted by their political ideology… While either what one has bought or what it will I am not naïve enough to suppose that eco- cost. And this is for those fortunate enough nomics has a core scientific content that to have insurance. can be separated from politics, an outsider might wonder just what we have all been On changes in economics, April 2007 doing for the last eighty years. If the typical thesis of the eighties was an elaborate piece of price theory estimated by On criticisms of economics, October 2011 non-linear maximum likelihood on a very Robert Zoellick… jibed that ‘in physics, small number of observations, the typical the- Nobel prizes are awarded for being correct sis of today uses little or no theory, much sim- while in economics they are often awarded pler econometrics, and hundreds of thousands for being brilliant’. (It is an interesting exer- of observations... The extent to which data cise to list economics laureates, and allocate can effectively be substituted for theory is them to one or other of Zoellick’s boxes.) clearly a topic that is being actively explored, at least empirically... In the end, it is hard On economics and other disciplines, also not to think that the quality of research owes from October 2011 more to people than to methods. Behavioral economics and psychology are everywhere, and it is much harder than once was the case to see any real distinc- tions between what economists do and what the refusal to consider ethical questions is done by sociologists, psychologists, and explicitly but to leave them to the market political scientists. This is not the imperi- is surely the American vice. How do the alist economic enterprise of 20 years ago, where economists set out to conquer their preferences of unborn generations get poor sisters – armed with rational choice and expressed in the bond market? a self-proclaimed monopoly on the tools of causal inference… Instead, economists now believe that it is impossible to think about economic development, or about macroeco- On climate change and the Stern Review, nomic policy, without incorporating politics, October 2007 and that sociology and psychology have seri- If zero discounting (with perhaps a touch of ous things to tell us about human behavior. paternalism) is the British vice, the refusal to consider ethical questions explicitly but On the costs of unemployment, April 2012 to leave them to the market is surely the While there is endless speculation about the American vice. How do the preferences of effects of unemployment and recession on unborn generations get expressed in the the election prospects of President Obama bond market? Do we really want to discrim- and his opponent… there is little discus- inate across people by their date of birth? ... sion of what the recession is actually doing LETTER FROM… HIGHLIGHTS 09

l have often thought of the story of the dog who liked to chase buses, but had little idea of what it would be like to catch one. The Nobel is not just catching the bus, but being run over by it

to people. Apparently, the main effects of On the minimum wage debate, April 2019 interest are those on the chances of politi- My friend Anthony Appiah, a philosopher cians in the election… Jobs mean more than who thinks about and comments on public income, and the loss of a job brings a loss of policy, recently asked me, with some irrita- structure and meaning and it is most likely tion, why economists had still not managed this that brings the loss in well-being. to settle what seemed like a straightforward question… But perhaps Appiah’s question On economists and inequality, October 2013 is ill-posed and has no general answer? Why Yet here are two areas [health and do we economists — as well as non-econo- gender equality] where I believe that econ- mists — suppose that the effect of a treat- omists, not through any political commit- ment should always be the same, or at least ment, but through their regular activities, always act in the same direction? have been helping keep inequality under control, and where, as is often the case, On the Covid-19 pandemic, April 2020 the realisation comes only when they stop But the truth is that no health system, how- doing so, or when the forces on the other ever well designed and funded, could deal side win a victory. with the plague that threatens to overwhelm us. No planner would make preparations for On winning the 2015 Nobel Prize, April 2016 something that we have not seen in a cen- As many previous recipients have told, the tury, would construct intensive care units experience is both exhilarating and over- that are almost always empty, nor construct whelming; l have often thought of the story tens of thousands of ventilators that are of the dog who liked to chase buses, but had almost never needed and would rust in place. little idea of what it would be like to catch one. The Nobel is not just catching the bus, On multiple crises, October 2020 but being run over by it. …it is hard not to infer that, so long as the elite are not suffering, and as long as the On the American healthcare debate, stock-market remains airborne, our current April 2017 political system will not help those in trou- At the end of his [1963 AER] paper, Arrow ble… I hope that I am wrong. Perhaps there wrote: ‘It is the general social consensus, is hope in the idea that it will take multiple clearly, that the laissez-faire solution for crises to change a deeply broken but well-de- medicine is intolerable.’ This is perhaps one fended economic and political system. of the few sentences in the paper that has not stood the test of time, though there is nothing at all wrong with the last clause. The Letters from America On personal memories of economists, October 2017 The RES has an online archive dating back to The first seminar I ever heard in economics, April 2013, at in Cambridge in 1969, was Tony [Atkinson] https://www.res.org.uk/news/newsletter/ presenting his famous paper on the meas- urement of inequality. It made me think The full set of Letters, from October 1996 that economics was a pretty cool subject, I onwards, is available here: thought all economics talks were like this, https://scholar.princeton.edu/deaton/ and it ruined me for a lifetime of seminars. letters-america 10 PROFILE

The Profile:Dame Rachel Griffith From Marshall to obesity, and other discoveries

In this new series, we profile leading economists. We start with Past RES President, Dame Rachel Griffith of the University of Manchester and the IFS

Let’s start with your background, and its that she has been able to achieve all that influence on you. she has and still look like she’s having fun. I am the youngest of four and grew up in A very close second is Janet Yellen. She is an environment where people were always incredibly smart, public spirited, and - I can debating current events. From a young age only imagine - must have nerves of steel to I was expected to argue my position. It was do the job she does. Yet she comes across as great training to be an academic, and I’m kind, engaging, and genuinely interested in sure it helped to give me confidence to put what others think and do. She has done a my own ideas forward. lot to promote equality and diversity in eco- My parents were from Texas. They both nomics, and I think we are all better for it. had a strong work ethic, and strong moral values. They instilled in us the idea that if Is there a book or paper that you think you are fortunate in life it is your respon- all economists should read? sibility to work to help others who are less Marshall (1890), Principles of Economics, is fortunate. They were involved in the civil one of the best written and most insightful rights movement, and anti-war activities. books in economics that I have read. Well, My father was a freedom rider, and my OK, I have to admit that I haven’t actually mother travelled to Vietnam to witness the read it from cover to cover, but it is very US bombing of civilians. accessible, and sounds very modern and is Growing up in this environment had as applicable today as it was when he wrote an enormous impact on me. I didn’t enjoy it, so I really should go back and reread it. school, and in fact dropped out and never finished high school. I later went back and took the Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) so that I could go to university. How- Unexpected discoveries have played ever, I don’t think this has really harmed my career much. My parents and older an important part in my career siblings had taught me how to think and how to learn, and when I later got inter- ested and returned to education, it wasn’t too hard to catch up. Do you believe in sudden breakthroughs? Yes, absolutely. Serendipity and unexpected Are there people you especially admire? discoveries have played an important part Michelle Obama is someone who comes in my career. across as having enormous integrity and One example is the work that I’ve done compassion. Her relationship with Barack with Philippe Aghion. He and I were teach- seems to be a genuine partnership. I admire ing a graduate class together at UCL on PROFILE 11

competition, innovation, and growth. The way we organised it was that one week he gave a lecture on the theory and the next week I’d give a lecture on the empirics. We very quickly realised that we were confus- We very quickly realised ing the students because we were telling them opposite things. From that experience that we were confusing we wrote a book (Competition and Growth) which takes the form of a dialogue between the students an applied theorist using Schumpeterian growth models and a microeconometrician employing new techniques to gauge compe- tition and entry. It was great fun to write. Another example is the work that I did with Melanie Luhrmann and Rodrigo Llu- beras. Rodrigo was a PhD student of Mel- anie’s, and he was putting together some data for us on long-run trends in calorie purchases recorded in the main UK house- hold expenditure survey. We wanted it as background to something we were looking at. He brought us this figure that showed that the number of calories that households were pur- chasing had fallen over the past few decades, by quite a lot. We told him it must be wrong, but after several iterations he convinced us it was right, and we wrote a paper that I really like that shows how this fact is consistent with rising obesity (life has become more sedentary).

What makes you pessimistic about the world, and what optimistic? I’m basically optimistic about most things. I think the human race is very resilient and that at heart most people are well intentioned. I’m constantly amazed at the generosity and kindness that people can show in all sorts of unexpected situations. However, two things have made me somewhat more pessimistic over recent years. The Brexit vote was depressing; I felt that a monumental decision was made for all the wrong reasons. The way that social media has turned out also makes me pessimistic - I don’t think it’s delivered all the things that people hoped it would, and it has caused quite a bit of harm. 12 FUTURE HEALTH

The Covid-19 recession and health James Banks, Heidi Karjalainen, and Carol Propper consider how the Covid-19 recession will influence future health

The authors t the end of 2020, the UK Intuitively, it might seem economy had shrunk by natural to think that mortality JAMES BANKS Ajust under 10%, there had increases in bad economic times. UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER been over 100,000 deaths from But when looking at mortality AND INSTITUTE FOR Covid-19 and five percent of the among the whole population (and FISCAL STUDIES labour force were unemployed. not just those who lose a job as a While the vaccines offer hope that result of a recession) the evidence HEIDI KARJALAINEN the lockdown will ease, and the is mixed, with some studies find- INSTITUTE FOR death toll will slow and the econ- ing it to decline in recessions (for FISCAL STUDIES omy pick up, we know from past example, Ruhm 2000) or others experience that major shocks to finding it to be either unaffected DAME CAROL PROPPER economic activity leave long shad- by macroeconomic conditions or IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON ows. Here we focus on the poten- only slightly increasing in reces- AND INSTITUTE FOR tial effect of the economic recession sions. While deaths may not FISCAL STUDIES on future health. change very much, many studies FUTURE HEALTH 13

References

Adda, J. and Fawaz, Y. (2020). The Health Toll of Import Janke, K., Lee, K., Propper, C., Shields, K. and Shields, Competition. Economic Journal, 130(630), 1501-1540. M. A. (2020). Macroeconomic Conditions and Health in Britain: Aggregation, Dynamics and Local Area Bellés-Obrero, C. and Vall Castelló, J. (2018). Heterogeneity. IZA DP No. 13091, March. The Business Cycle and Health. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Kivimäki, M., Batty, G. D., Kawachi, I. and Steptoe, A. (eds.) (2018). The Routledge International Handbook of Case, A. and Deaton, A. (2015). Rising Morbidity Psychosocial Epidemiology. Routledge, Abingdon, and and Mortality in Midlife Among White Non-Hispanic Routledge Handbooks Online. Americans in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(49), 15078-15083. Pierce, J. R. and Schott, P. K. (2020). Trade Liberalization and Mortality: Evidence from US Counties. American Case, A. and Deaton, A. (2017). Mortality and Economic Review: Insights, 2(1), 47-64. Morbidity in the 21st Century. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 397-476. Ruhm, C. J. (2000). Are Recessions Good for Your Health? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(2), 617–650. Coile, C. C., Levine, P. B. and McKnight, R. (2014). Recessions, Older Workers, and Longevity: How van den Berg, G. J., Lindeboom, M. and Portrait, Long Are Recessions Good for Your Health? F. (2006). Economic Conditions Early in Life and American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Individual Mortality. American Economic Review, 96(1), 6(3), 92-119. 290-302.

find that mental illness and deaths The long-run effects of reces- by suicide increase in recessions, sions have been shown to be and a review of the evidence goes particularly strong on certain so far as to say that the deteriora- a review… goes so far as to groups of people according to tion of mental health in recessions say that the deterioration of their situation at the time the is the only well-established finding mental health in recessions economic shock hits. Recessions across studies (Bellés-Obrero and experienced in early childhood Castelló, 2018). is the only well-established can have an impact on mortal- Mortality during the Covid-19 finding across studies ity at the end of life, implying pandemic and associated recession effects that last the lifetime of the will be dominated by the direct individuals who are born during effects of the pandemic and its recessions (for example, van den associated effects on healthcare Berg et al. 2006). And all current provision. Any aggregate short-run A range of studies have found younger generations may well evidence from previous recessions long-run consequences of reces- have long-lasting effects of this will be even harder to generalise sions for mortality and morbid- pandemic given disruptions to given the particular nature of the ity. Workers who experience a primary and secondary schooling, economic and social changes expe- recession in their fifties have been higher education, and transitions rienced within the pandemic, and shown to subsequently die sooner into the labour market, which the way these have fallen differen- (Coile et al. 2014). The unem- would all be expected to have per- tially on particular groups. ployment caused by the 2007-9 manent effects on life-time earn- However, whilst the evidence global financial crisis increased ings. In addition, those with low on short-run effects of recessions the prevalence of chronic illness, incomes, insecure jobs, and poorer on health may be mixed, the long- especially mental illness, in the living situations and family sup- run health effects of economic UK over the two years following port arrangements are more likely downturns have been shown to be the onset of the recession (Janke to have greater financial worries large and persistently negative, et al. 2020) which will then track and poorer mental health out- and it is here that we might see through to subsequent mortality, comes in the pandemic, which are some more concrete implications given the link between long-run themselves risk factors for future for mortality and health of the chronic illness and mortality poor physical health and prema- Covid-19 pandemic. (Kivimäki et al. 2018). ture mortality. 14 FUTURE HEALTH

from alcohol, drugs and suicide (which have been termed ‘deaths of despair’, Case and Deaton, 2015, 2017). The US local labour markets with greater exposure to Chinese import competition experienced an economic decline that led to higher rates of physical and mental health problems (Adda and Fawaz, 2020) and increased mortality, especially from alcohol and drugs (for exam- ple, Pierce and Schott, 2020). This kind of structural change takes place over several business cycles rather than during one recession, and its effects are distinct from the health effects of the more tempo- Finally, the economic effects of rary state of a recession. the virus and the lockdown are not So there will certainly be long- evenly distributed, with strong dif- term effects that depend on how Current younger generations ferential impact by occupation and the remainder of the pandemic may well have long-lasting geography. To the extent that those and the recession plays out, the effects of this pandemic areas and occupational groups that policies that are put in place as a have been hit hardest by Covid- result, and the nature of post-pan- 19 do not recover, the pandemic demic outcomes when it comes to may lead to not just an increase in the structure and distribution of mortality, but a further increase economic activity and the nature in inequalities in lifespan across of our lifestyles. We will be feeling people and areas. Decades of indus- the health consequences of Covid- trial decline in the United States 19 long after the virus itself is may have led to a rise in deaths under control.

Further reading

Social distancing saves lives. So do recessions: The impact of Covid-19 on chronic health in the UK: Anne Case and Angus Deaton discuss how the Katharina Janke, Kevin Lee, Carol Propper, Kalvinder lockdown measures may actually save lives through Shields, and Michael Shields summarise the evidence mechanisms that are additional to avoiding the Covid- from a recent study about long-term effects of 19-related deaths. recessions on chronic illness. https://www.politico.com/news/ https://voxeu.org/article/impact-covid-19- magazine/2020/04/02/coronavirus-economy- chronic-health-uk reopen-deaths-balance-analysis-159248#2 Covid-19 pandemic hits mental health, especially of Recessions and health: the long-term health the young and of women, and widens inequalities: consequences of responses to the coronavirus: James Banks and Xiaowei Xu analyse initial mental James Banks, Heidi Karjalainen, and Carol Propper health impacts of Covid-19 and find substantial summarise some of the evidence on the impact of negative impacts on mental health across recessions on health. the population. https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14799 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14876

How might the Covid-19 recession affect your health? For further details and a broader perspective, see An economist explains: Christopher Ruhm talks about Banks, J., Fancourt, D., and Xu, X., 2021, ‘Mental health the potential effects of the current recession on health. and the COVID-19 pandemic’, in Helliwell, J., Layard, https://news.virginia.edu/content/how-might-covid- R., Sachs, J. and De Neve, J.-E. (eds.) World Happiness 19-recession-affect-your-health-economist-explains Report 2021, 20 March 2021. THE ECONOMICS NETWORK 15

An update from the Economics Network

Alvin Birdi and Caroline Elliott discuss the pivot to teaching online and the Economics Network’s response

The authors

ALVIN BIRDI DIRECTOR OF THE ECONOMICS NETWORK AND UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

CAROLINE ELLIOTT DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE ECONOMICS NETWORK AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

n the July 2020 newsletter, we wrote about the move to Ipredominantly online teaching and assessment. In the months that have followed, academics have worked long hours to rede- sign teaching and assessment materials appropriately for online or blended delivery. Few will supporting academics in this great have had time to reflect critically online pivot over the past year. on the collective achievement of For many, the Economics Net- these developments. work is synonymous with the Some 450 delegates We hope that in the coming training opportunities we provide, attended these sessions, months there will be time for predominantly – but not exclu- from 25 countries reflection on the nature of these sively – for economists in the early individual and departmental-level stages of their academic careers. successes. There include new com- Until 2020 this training had taken petencies in the additional tech- place in face-to-face workshops. nologies required to prepare online Early last summer we recognised variety of online tools, with addi- teaching materials, to make large that supporting colleagues with tional asynchronous materials pro- and small online classes engaging the move to online teaching and vided to participants in advance and interactive, as well as recon- learning would itself need to be and after sessions. The themes ceiving assessment to work online. facilitated online. We took the covered Engaging Students and The Economics Network has opportunity to recast these work- Academics with Online Learn- been busy supporting colleagues shops, both as online training and ing, Teaching with Data Online, across the UK and beyond in what as real-time demonstrations of Teaching Economics with Excel has been a profound rupture not how engagement can be fostered in Online and Adaptable Assessment. just to teaching, learning, and online environments. Some 450 delegates attended these assessment, but also in student We began the summer with our sessions, from 25 countries, and support and sense of belonging. first online symposium, consisting feedback was very positive. Mate- Here we take stock of our activities of four themed live events using a rials from the symposium can be 16 THE ECONOMICS NETWORK

accessed from the Economics Net- work website. The Early Career Academic (ECA) and Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) workshops fol- lowed quickly after this symposium in early autumn 2020, and again took place virtually. There were 20 ECA attendees and 72 GTA attend- ees with an additional 20 attendees for the extra module offered to experienced GTAs who had previ- ously not taught online. Again, the feedback was very appreciative, and attendance healthy both for the core modules and the optional mod- ules on Games and Experiments, Creating Learning Communities, Inclusive Teaching and Facilitating Effective Group Work. We welcomed seven new Asso- ciates to the Network in January 2021, from the universities of East Anglia, Loughborough, Not- tingham Trent, Portsmouth, Stir- ling, Strathclyde and Warwick. These new recruits join existing associates to make up our 51 asso- ciates around the UK. Together with a senior Executive Board of twelve members, the Network’s activities are undertaken by a large number of contributors, to whom we are always grateful. We have been striving to make the Network increasingly diverse and are pleased that contributors and senior staff are now relatively We hope to hold this year’s well represented across various DEE conference from September dimensions, including gender, 1st-3rd at Heriot-Watt University, country of birth, ethnicity, and potentially incorporating a hybrid These developments may university type. mode of delivery that includes both result in longer-term shifts in Our associates and Executive face-to-face and online elements. economics teaching work across six workstreams However, depending on circum- that represent the breadth of our stances, we may have to follow activities. As well as the Training the lead of conferences such as the group, there are groups devoted RES and SES, earlier in the year to research and data analysis; than ours, and move fully online. publications including the Eco- Unfortunately, it seems likely that nomics Network Handbook, the the hopes of some Executive mem- International Review of Econom- bers for a ceilidh after the confer- ics Education, and the Economic ence dinner will be dashed. But as Review magazine aimed at A-level always, we expect the conference students; website and communica- to be as welcoming, supportive, tions; recruitment; and conferences and productive for the teaching and symposia encompassing the community as in previous years. biennial Developments in Econom- We have been pleasantly sur- ics Education (DEE) Conference. prised by the sharp rise in the THE ECONOMICS NETWORK 17

ities by noting that this intense period of effort has resulted in a number of ways of teaching we Many of us have discovered hope will be articulated, evalu- some advantages of online ated, consolidated, and retained as teaching the pandemic eases. For example, many of us have discovered some advantages of online teaching, such as a reduced nervousness of students Departments, have faced finan- giving presentations online, cial uncertainty in the current and an increased willingness to academic year. This has given ask and respond to questions rise to delays in receiving annual using the ‘chat’ options (even if subscriptions from contributing they can be reluctant to turn on departments, and some depart- their cameras). We have seen a ments struggling to cover the cost move towards more applied and of their subscription. Given the research-based assessments, and savings made from having online a reduction in those that rely rather than face-to-face training heavily on “memory-work”. There workshops, we are temporarily is also hope that teaching prepa- offering lower departmental sub- ration may be somewhat easier scription costs to those depart- for the forthcoming academic ments needing assistance. Please year, given banks of pre-recorded contact Ashley Lait, the Economics lecture materials that can be Network Manager, for details. re-used or adapted, especially Looking to the future, the Eco- where they were designed with nomics Network has started work- future use in mind. ing closely with the Education We are hopeful that these devel- Committee of the European Eco- opments may result in longer- nomic Association to ensure that term shifts in economics teaching we provide complementary support towards more active modes of to Economics colleagues across learning, such as the flipped-class- Europe. Similarly, we are working room approach, and away from with the RES Education Com- more inactive modes such as the mittee and exploring the kinds of delivery of lectures, where students support that would be welcomed attend with little prior knowledge number of colleagues willing to by more experienced teaching of the topic to be covered. share their experiences of the move staff. We are also linking up with Certainly, in the Economics to online teaching, learning, and the employment-focused site Inom- Network, though we have sorely assessment by writing advice for ics, so that both organisations can missed face-to-face interaction others, which we have published provide more comprehensive infor- with our colleagues and the wider as Teaching Case Studies on the mation to academic economists teaching community, we are con- Economics Network website. Since thinking about their careers. All fident that training will always the huge success of ‘Assessment in of these new liaisons have occa- retain large elements of the new the Time of Pandemic: A Panic-free sioned a redesign and update of modes of teaching and learning Guide’, written by Tim Burnett and our website to ensure greater ease that we have learned over the Stefania Paredes Fuentes and pub- of navigation around a richer set past year. lished on the website in June 2020, of resources, and a focus on more we have published a further 29 up-to-date and topical materials as case studies, making this the busi- the pandemic begins to wane. Visit www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk est year for the publication of case Inevitably, there has been a to access Economics Network studies. We are incredibly grateful large opportunity cost in terms of resources and find out more about for everyone who has made time research effort and other activities its events and other activities. You to contribute a case study despite that this vast increase in teaching can also sign up on the website to their other work pressures. workload has imposed on aca- receive the Network’s newsletter, We are very aware that univer- demic and professional staff. But where a modified version of this sities, including their Economics we end this update on our activ- article will appear. 18 COMMENT

Comment and debate

Is economics always politics?

The author oger Backhouse’s and James to support. Quasi-scientific ration- Forder’s defence of History alisation of a political endeavour JAN TOPOROWSKI Rof Economic Thought in the may be an effective propaganda PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS last Newsletter (‘Rediscovering weapon; yet… is in a democratic AND FINANCE, SOAS the history of economic thought’, setting almost always inhibitory UNIVERSITY OF LONDON issue 192, January 2021) would be and disintegrating.’ stronger if it recognised the politi- A result of this confusion, cal factor in determining which the- according to Myrdal, is that eco- ories are academically respectable, nomics does not progress from one and hence worthy of canonization, theory to a better theory: ‘In eco- and which theories are deemed to nomics, on the contrary, all doc- be too idiosyncratic to win entry trines live on persistently.’ to textbooks. As Gunnar Myrdal Nearly a century later, Myrdal’s observed in The Political Element view remains worthy of consid- in the Development of Economic eration. Once we recognize that Theory, ‘We must look upon the economic theories rise to pre-em- majority of modern economic doc- inence because they meet a par- trines as modified reminiscences ticular political conjuncture, the of very old political thinking… case for the history of economic political speculation has permeated thought, to pick up ideas that economics from the very beginning’. lost their political conjuncture, Myrdal went further. He pointed or perhaps never met a congenial out that economics has always been one, becomes much stronger. We a political enterprise to influence should not delude ourselves that government policy. only logic and evidence have elim- Attempts to suppress this polit- inated the theories of the past. ical aspect of economics, accord- Those who know only the latest ing to Myrdal, lead to confusion fad in economics know little of between normative and positive economics. And I wonder if the economics that makes econom- current embarrassment of our ics unscientific and, ultimately, profession about the history of defeats the legitimacy of economic economic thought arises because argument: ‘expressing political any historical consideration of the attitudes only through the medium most fundamental economic doc- of purportedly objective arguments trines, as opposed to mere chron- and scientific theories is probably ological listing, exposes the origin in the long run highly injurious to of those doctrines not in economics the actual policy that one wishes but in politics.

Attempts to suppress this political aspect of economics, according to Myrdal, lead to confusion between normative and positive economics that makes economics unscientific COMMENT 19

Readers with views on this topic are invited to write to the Editor.

The authors reply…

The authors

ROGER BACKHOUSE UNIVERSITY OF There is a strong case to be made that the BIRMINGHAM AND ERASMUS UNIVERSITY political element more often enters in the ROTTERDAM way concepts are used rather than being JAMES FORDER implicit in the techniques themselves BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

an Toporowski is quite right this had a leftish tinge, being that more than logic and used by Oskar Lange and others Jevidence determine fashions to construct arguments for market as to economic theory, and that socialism. Today some economists the political element is not to be see it as justifying free-market ignored. This has always been the policy while others argue that it case. Our aim, though, was not to shows that the conditions needed reassess that matter, but to iden- for an efficient perfectly compet- tify characteristics of the state itive economy cannot possibly be of economics today that make satisfied in the real world. The the study of the history of eco- theory of general competitive nomic thought potentially more equilibrium has no politics of its interesting and useful to econo- own; it is a technique that is used mists than it was fifty years ago. to support the political positions That case can be made without of those who use it, which span reference to the political associa- the political spectrum. Another tions of various theories. example comes from views of That, of course, does not inflation in the 1950s and 1960s. make Toporowski’s question Some saw the problem in terms of uninteresting. However, eco- excess demand, others in a vari- nomics has changed a lot since ety of ‘cost-push’ factors. There Myrdal wrote his 1930 book. was no doubt a political element The highly technical economic to that. But of more interest, concepts that dominate today’s within the latter group, there is economics are unlikely to be val- a distinction between the view, ue-free (they are human creations predominant amongst the British after all) but there is a strong left, that tended to blame trade case to be made that the political unions, and their counterparts in element more often enters in the the United States who were much way concepts are used rather more inclined to see the problem than being implicit in the tech- in business practice and oligopoly niques themselves. pricing. Toporowski’s question is Take the theory of general com- important, but we do not see it as petitive equilibrium. In the 1930s having a simple answer. 20 RES COMMITTEES

The Women’s Committee

Hiring women in economics – what works The Women’s Committee advise on practical steps

The authors advert. The RES Women’s Com- A two-step approach mittee, CSWEP, and WINECON One approach that we have found to MARINA DELLA GIUSTA are all good places. work: select the panel to be diverse UNIVERSITY OF READING first, and then look at the spe- A meaningful statement cific research area. Anyone in the ALMUDENA SEVILLA Tailor the statement to the post department should be able to judge UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON and university, with enough detail the candidate overall, since we hire to make it credible. Provide fig- colleagues, not job market papers. SARAH SMITH ures, and photos of diversity in UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL the advert, to show the ‘face’ of Diversity training the department you are and want All panel members should under- JO SWAFFIELD to become; show how women are take diversity training, to become UNIVERSITY OF YORK represented in key positions, such aware of conscious and unconscious as a female head of department, or biases and how to overcome them. female research or teaching com- espite decades of effort to mittee chairs; state a willingness Transparency increase the representation to consider part-time appoint- Share best practices in a recruit- Dof women among academic ments or job sharing; use inclusive ment handbook. Avoid informal economists, it remains low and and welcoming language; use AI selection mechanisms such as progress limited. Female rep- algorithms and draw on a diverse hiring dinners. Monitor time spent resentation in economics is closer pool of colleagues to edit the discussing each candidate, and to hard sciences, and well below advert; include a core institutional language used to describe the per- other social sciences, where more EDI statement in the job spec, and ceived advantages and drawbacks than half of academics are women a department commitment, such of potential hires. (Gamage et al. 2020). A burgeon- as a website statement, Athena ing empirical literature identifies SWAN award, etc. Strategic thinking challenges facing women in eco- Being disorganized can mean nomics; here we describe recruit- Data over-using informal networks ment approaches that work. Collect and look at data at each and shortcuts (meaningless gen- This responds to the need to stage, on the share of women der-equality statements, or a token improve diversity, key to the among applicants, among inter- female on a panel). A diversity 2019-2023 RES strategy. It also viewees, and among offers and champion or working group can responds to increasing requests acceptances, to shed light on lead on strategic change. to the Women’s Committee Chair where issues may be arising. from those with hiring responsi- bilities, about how to best attract Code of conduct in seminars female economists. It builds on Job market seminars are key to References our experience and on decades recruitment. Recent evidence shows of research. Recruitment is only that women are asked more ques- Gamage, D. K., Sevilla, A. and Smith, the first step; future articles tions – and more patronising and S. (2020). Women in economics: a will cover salary negotiations hostile questions – than men. Some UK perspective. Oxford Review of and promotions. departments have introduced sem- Economic Policy, 36(4), 962-982. inar rules: give speakers uninter- Wide dissemination rupted time at the start, eliminate For the RES strategy see Use diversity head-hunters and cross-chat, and stop participants https://www.res.org.uk/about/ female networks to spread the from dominating the questions. strategy.html RES JOURNALS 21

The Economic Journal

An update on a year in the life of the Economic Journal

The authors was slightly lower than full report for 2020 was in recent years, at 48%. written, Franck Portier THE EDITORS For detailed turnaround was appointed a new THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL data, please see the online Joint Managing Editor, version of this report. from 8 February 2021.) The Journal continues Ethics guidelines for n 2020, the Economic to award prizes for excep- authors, reviewers, and Journal received tional referee reports, 1,994 editors continue to be Ialmost two thousand and two prizes for excep- The total number adopted to ensure that submissions, the highest tional papers. The 2020 of submissions for publication best practice ever. The headline accept- winners of the Austin 2020. This is up from is upheld. The Journal’s ance rate for 2020 was Robinson Memorial Prize 1,722 in 2019 Data Editor, Joan Llull, 6%. As in recent years, and the Royal Economic continues to coordinate about a quarter of sub- Society Prize will be pre-acceptance reproduc- missions came from North announced at the RES ibility checks in line with America, less than a fifth Conference in April 2021 top journals in the field. In from the United Kingdom, and reported in the next 2020 the pool of research and about two-fifths from issue of this newsletter. assistants conducting the the rest of Europe. (For the 2019 winners, checks was increased, to In more detail, the see the July 2020 issue of ensure that the team had total number of submis- the newsletter, available 4% varied skills and to man- sions for 2020 was 1,994. on the RES website.) The adjusted age the workload. This is up from 1,722 in In July 2020, the The Journal is cur- 2019. The 2019 intro- Journal introduced a acceptance rate of rently ranked ninth by duction of pre-accept- new short paper format, submissions for 2020 Google Scholar. It con- ance replication checks broadly similar to Amer- tinues to raise its profile resulted in a slight delay ican Economic Review: on social media, with to acceptance decisions Insights (fewer than Twitter followers increas- being filed by the editors, 6,000 words, no more ing by 4,698 in 2020 and and hence the headline than five exhibits). Short overall Twitter followers 2020 acceptance rate of papers are held to the exceeding 14,000 as of 21 6% is slightly inflated. same quality standards January this year. The The adjusted acceptance as regular submissions, Journal continues to per- rate for 2020 is 4%. and the same edito- 711k form well on alternative The Journal continues rial decision processes Twitter impressions measure of impact, with to benefit from dedicated in terms of refereeing in 2020 13 being the average Alt- referees and Associate apply. In 2020, 119 short metric score for articles Editors who deliver paper submissions were board in July 2020 and published in 2020. The high-quality and timely received, and four were Rachel Kranton left the Journal generated 711K reports, with 92% return- returned for revision. board in June 2020. The Twitter impressions in ing their reports within Incoming and outgo- editors would like to 2020, compared with three months in 2020. ing Managing Editors thank Estelle Cantillon 515K in 2019. Decision turnaround times overlap, where possible, and Rachel Kranton for for that year were still to allow for a smooth their service and com- slower than we would like, transition. Heski Bar- mitment to the Journal. partly due to the volume Isaac joined the board in Marco Manacorda joined For the full report, on which of submissions the Jour- March 2020 and Estelle the board as the Jour- this summary is based, see: nal has received in recent Cantillon left the board nal’s ninth Managing https://www.res.org.uk/ years. The rate of desk in September 2020. Editor in February 2020. resources-page/ej-annual- reject decisions in 2020 Steffen Huck joined the (Editor’s note: after the report-2020-pdf.html 22 OBITUARIES

Obituary: Domenico Mario Nuti

The authors n December 22, 2020 critique of the theoretical Kaldor/ Domenico Mario Nuti, Pro- Mirrlees growth model, to the anal- JOSEPH HALEVI Ofessor of Economics (retired ysis of incomes policies, as well as MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY since 2010) at La Sapienza Univer- important contributions to under- sity of Rome, died. This is a pro- standing the determinants of the PETER KRIESLER found loss that leaves a great void. class distribution of income. UNIVERSITY OF NEW Nuti was born in the Tuscan city In 1974, editing the essays of SOUTH WALES of Arezzo on August 16, 1937 and the Russian mathematical econo- in 1962 graduated in law from La mist V. K. Dmitriev (1868–1913) Sapienza. That year (and 1963) he for Cambridge University Press, moved to Warsaw as a fellow of the he wrote a masterful introductory Polish Academy of Sciences, study- essay in which theoretical analysis ing with Michal Kalecki and Oskar and the history of economic thought Lange. From Warsaw he moved are harmoniously blended. to Cambridge, where in 1970 he Nuti’s originality and strengths obtained a PhD in economics with were the result of his Marxian, his- Maurice Dobb and Nicholas Kaldor. torical, and legal backgrounds cou- From 1965 to 1979, Nuti was pled with the intellectual domina- a Fellow of King’s College, Cam- tion of the ruling theories about the bridge, and lecturer in the Faculty market, as well as a deep knowledge of Economics of the University of of the institutional, political, and Cambridge. From 1980 to 1982, he ideological mechanisms that under- was Professor and Director of the lay the economies of Eastern Europe Centre for Russian and Eastern and the USSR. Indeed, Mario Nuti European Studies at the Univer- became one of the foremost scholars sity of Birmingham. During the of the economics of socialism and of 1980s, Nuti became full Professor the post-socialist transitions. at the University of Siena and the The events of 1989-91 catapulted European University Institute of him into the Commission of the Fiesole, near Florence. In 1993 he European Union as the highest was appointed to the Chair of Com- expert on those countries, a commit- parative Economic Systems at the ment that lasted for the next two Sapienza University of Rome until decades. In December 1989, he was his retirement. Until 2005, Nuti invited to Brussels as an adviser to was also Visiting Professor at the DG-II (then division for economic London Business School. and monetary affairs) as head of It was at Cambridge that Mario relations with economies in transi- Nuti began his journey as an aca- tion. As a result, a long and intense demic, immediately establishing phase followed during which Nuti himself as a theorist of the highest produced many reports and essays, quality, able to place his ideas in both on specific problems and relation to their historical and countries, and on issues of general political context. His writings cov- reflection. Mario Nuti addressed in ered a wide range of theoretical a most original way both the crisis issues, from the incentive system of the centrally-planned economies and the choice of techniques in and the problems of the economics Soviet industry, to the implications of transition, and his work became of capital theory debates for capi- a necessary reference for the study talist and socialist systems, to the of those countries. NEWS 23

News…

News from Discover Economics

Discover Econom- ics has been busy! During LGBT History month in February, we ran a campaign showcasing LBGT economists working in business, aca- demia, and the pub- lic sector. We also launched our video competition for the Young Economic Summit. Students in As briefly mentioned ety of topics, including year 10, 11, and 13 in the Economic Jour- a lunchtime discussion will have an oppor- nal report on page 21, between Sir Angus Dea- tunity to work with the Journal editors are A new feature at ton and Sir Tim Besley on economists from delighted to announce this year’s RES the Farewell Letter from McKinsey and the the appointment of Conference will be America published in this Health Foundation Franck Portier as a new issue. For details, see the and compete against Joint Managing Editor. Lunchtime Chats conference website. other future econo- He joined on 8 February mists at the final in 2021. Franck is a Pro- Hamburg. Finally, for fessor of Economics at This year’s RES Confer- International Wom- University College Lon- mans (University of ence will be virtual, and en’s Day, we hosted don, and brings exper- Cambridge), and Michal we have commissioned an a podcast with Dame tise in macroeconomics, Kolesar (Princeton Uni- exciting interactive plat- Rachel Griffith, who with a focus on applied versity) have joined The form to host the event. told us about her and theoretical business Econometrics Journal as If you have booked, the unorthodox route cycle analysis. Associate Editors, from 1 platform will be available into economics. We January 2021. They will two weeks before the con- found it very inspir- bring expertise to the ference for you to create ing and we hope The Econometrics Jour- Journal across a range of your own profile and that lots more young nal is happy to report subfields of econometrics. build your own bespoke women follow in that Dacheng Xiu (Uni- agenda for Conference. Rachel’s footsteps. versity of Chicago), Dan- Once live, the platform iel Wilhelm (University A new feature at this will host all the sessions For more informa- College London), Demian year’s RES Conference and our virtual exhi- tion about Discover Pouzo (University of will be Lunchtime Chats, bition, and you will be Economics visit California, Berkeley), an innovation of Ricardo able to schedule time to www.discovereco- Drew Creal (University Reis, the Conference Pro- meet with colleagues and nomics.co.uk of Notre Dame), Marine gramme Chair for 2021. peers. We look forward to Carrasco (Université de These informal conver- a successful and stimu- Montréal), Koen Joch- sations will cover a vari- lating event. 24 CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

Events

RES Annual Conference 2021

The online 2021 RES Annual Conference will be held on 12-14 April 2021. The Pro- gramme Committee has put together a full programme for the three days, including three keynotes and two Past President Addresses, three new lunchtime talks, as well as the usual mix of special and general sessions. You can view the programme and book via the Conference website.

Conference on Measuring Symposium of Junior coming you to the event and hear- Prices and Welfare Researchers ing about the exciting research you are doing.” This conference, organised jointly This year’s Symposium of Junior by the Centre for Microdata Researchers will take place virtually Methods and Practice and the on Tuesday 18 May 2021 and will be Macro-finance Conference Economic and Statistics Working hosted by students at Queen’s Uni- in Money, Liquidity, and Group, will take place on Zoom versity Belfast. The Student Organ- Financial Stability on 28-29 April 2021. The confer- ising Committee has been working ence will examine the problems hard to create a diverse and inter- The annual Macro-finance confer- involved in producing measures esting programme for the event. We ence is hosted by Oxford Saïd and of price change, quantity change, highly recommend PhD students the Risk Center at ETH Zürich. This and changes in welfare. It will mark the date in their diaries. year’s conference will be held 9-10 explore some of the issues aris- Dame Carol Propper commented: July 2021, at Saïd Business School, ing from the availability of new “The Symposium is a fantastic University of Oxford. The keynote sources of data, such as those opportunity for PhD students to speakers are Herakles Polemar- from scanners, as well as tradi- come together and support one chakis (University of Warwick) and tional problems like measuring another through discussion and Harald Uhlig (University of Chi- the price of housing. Kevin Fox peer review. Students will have cago); the invited speakers are Edu- of the University of New South the opportunity to hear from key- ardo Davila (Yale University) and Wales will give a keynote lecture notes and share opinions and ideas Tim Eisert (Erasmus School of Eco- on “Price Index Measurement around papers submitted. Senior nomics). The organisers are Hans during Pandemics: What have we academics will also be on hand to Gersbach, Oren Sussman, Dimitrios learnt from Covid-19?”. See the lend their experience and insight. I Tsomocos, and Xuan Wang. The call Cemmap website for details. am really looking forward to wel- for papers closes on 15 April 2021.

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