Newsletter October 2016
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Royal Economic Society Issue no. 175 Newsletter October 2016 Economists, the public and the media Readers will recall that our previous (July) Correspondence Newsletter contained an article by Simon Wren- Letter from America p.3 Lewis deploring the way in which mainstream eco- nomic opinion had been treated by most of the media in the weeks leading up to the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. This obviously Comments and notes touched a sensitive nerve since the debate has con- Economists’ standing with the media p.19 tinued, and widened, since then. The Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM), for example, used one of its surveys to sound out economists’ views on why Features the majority view was so badly misrepresented. We Digital skills boost your earning power p.4 have space only for a short version of the findings but they are interesting if only for the range of prob- Academic economists and the media p.8 lems (and possible solutions) suggested by the pro- The limits to ‘whatever it takes’: fession. One of these, but only one, is the limited Lessons from the gold standard p.12 ability of most academic economists to respond to journalists in ways which make their message clear. ESRC media training p.15 It is worth noting that for some years now, the British Science Association Festival of Science ESRC has offered free media training to researchers UK migration: separating fact and fiction p.16 in receipt of its grants and we report on that provi- Reforming the economics curriculum p.17 sion briefly here, on p.15. Judging by the response of two beneficiaries the training is both welcome Gender and pay at LSE p.19 and effective. Maybe there is a case for making this facility more generally available. Obituaries There is little point in economists becoming more media savvy, however, if the media themselves can- Keith Cowling p.20 not report economists’ views responsibly and accu- Marcello de Cecco p.21 rately. We have commented several times recently that the merits of leaving/staying in the EU was one issue on which economists showed extraordinary unanimity.This did not, however, prevent the BBC RES News p.23 from presenting the arguments as though they were evenly balanced. As we report on p. 11, the com- plaint currently rests withe BBC Trust. Be sure we will be following events and reporting again in p.26 Conference diary January. Royal Economic Society Economic Royal THE ROYAL ECONOMIC SOCIETY • President: Professor Andrew Chesher (UCL and cemmap) • President-elect: Professor Peter Neary (Oxford) • Past-president: Professor John Moore (Edinburgh) • Secretary-General: Professor Denise Osborn (University of Manchester) • Second Secretary: Professor Robin Naylor (University of Warwick) For other members of the Executive Committee, go to the Society pages on the website where all those involved in the structure and governance of the Society are listed. The Society’s The Royal Economic Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious econom- Newsletter ic associations in the world. It is a learned society, founded in 1890 with the aim ‘to promote the study of economic science.’ Initially called the British Economic Association, it became the Royal Economic Society on receiv- The Newsletter is first and fore- ing its Royal Charter in 1902. The current officers of the Executive most a vehicle for the dissemina- Committee are listed above. tion of news and comment of inter- The Society’s bee logo est to its readers. Contributions from The Society’s logo, shown below, has been used from its earli- readers are always warmly welcomed. est days. The story behind the use of the bee refers to the We are particularly interested to receive ‘Fable of the Bees’ by Bernard Mandeville, an 18th Century letters, reports of conferences and meet- essayist which alludes to the benefits of decentralisation ings, and news of major research projects as by looking at co-operation amongst bees and showing well as comment on recent events. how the pursuit of self-interest can be beneficial to society. The Latin quote comes from Virgil and speaks of the drive of bees. Visit our website at: www.res.org.uk/view/resNewsletter.html The Newsletter is published quarterly in January, April, July and October Newsletter - subscription rates The Newsletter is distributed to members of the Society free of charge. Non-members may obtain copies at the following subscrip- For membership benefits, sub- tion rates: scription fees and how to • UK £5.00 • Europe (outside UK) £6.50 • Non-Europe (by airmail) join the Society, see back £8.00 cover or go to: www.res.org.uk Next issue No. 176 January 2017 Deadline for submissions 16 December 2016 Editor Administration Officer Prof Peter Howells, Mrs Amanda Wilman, Centre for Global Finance, Royal Economic Society, Bristol Business School, Office of the Secretary-General, UWE Bristol, Rm E35, The Bute Building, Westburn Lane, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL Email: [email protected] [email protected] Fax: +44 (0)1334 462479 Email: [email protected] Designed by Sarum Editorial Services: www.sarum-editorial.co.uk www.res.org.uk/view/resNewsletter.html 2 Correspondence Letter from America — On becoming superannuated In which Angus compares the experience of dealing with the UK and US pension authorities and discovers that while some are worse than others, ‘... no one looks forward to dealing with bureaucracies.’ ETIREMENT AND RETIREMENT SAVING have been fre- uncertain quality as either teachers or researchers. New quent topics of this Letter during the two years of faculty are also asked to do remarkably little in the way of Rits existence. In my first years at Princeton, I was teaching. But given their desire to have a perpetually greatly impressed by the differences between defined young faculty, and the impossibility of forcing retirement contribution (American academics) versus defined bene- on anyone who can actually show up to class, no matter in fit (UK academics) pension schemes, and especially so how sad a state, a defined benefit scheme would be an by the enormous sums that could be accumulated at enormous boon to the Princeton dean. retirement in a booming stock market by top young superstars who were highly paid from the beginning of Princeton does provide incentives to retire; these are not their careers. The 2008 crash was a pointed reminder that particularly generous, especially for those on light teach- such returns are in part a reward for bearing risk, and for ing loads, but I decided early last October that I would many ex-young stars, now middle-aged professors, it was sign the papers before the deadline of my 70th birthday an extremely unwelcome surprise to discover that half of and take a bonus of half a year’s salary. The decision their assets had evaporated. The would have been easier had I antic- subsequent recovery, now blithely ipated the phone call from supposed by many professors to A dean of the faculty at Princeton once Stockholm that came four days have been both natural and told me“ that he spent almost all of his time on later, but Anne and I had decided, inevitable, has saved them, their three tasks, trying to hire minorities, trying to find not without trepidation, that we had students, and their employers, from jobs for the spouses of potential new hires, and enough for the future; Anne has no having to teach into an advanced trying to persuade people to retire. intention of retiring soon, and we and decrepit old age. are fortunate not to have needy ” dependents. At the same time, my A defined contribution scheme presents an ageing professor calculations included claiming both my British and with a huge disincentive to retire. Even for those of us who American state benefits, which required encounters with have an adequate accumulation, the decision to go from a the pension administrations of both countries. I have large monthly paycheck to precisely nothing is a terrifying always felt that how these dealings are conducted are a decision. A defined benefit scheme has a downward step, feature of state safety nets that are almost as important as not a precipice. Academics are well-paid, but the world is a the financial rules themselves. tough place, and many friends of my age cohort have grown-up children whose financial futures are far from Yet no one looks forward to dealing with bureaucracies. I assured, and who depend on their parents’ support, now and had always been fortunate in Britain, and am of an age, in the future. Many who would be delighted to quit the born in the first days of the welfare state, so that I long classroom with a pension are entirely unwilling to do so shared my parents’ belief that the government is my friend. with zero salary replacement. And so it still proved, many years later. The online forms were not easy, much that was demanded seemed not to A dean of the faculty at Princeton once told me that he apply and, as usual, there was insufficient space to explain spent almost all of his time on three tasks, trying to hire just why, but I did the best I could and pressed the submit minorities, trying to find jobs for the spouses of potential button. I received some (snail) mails, and even managed to new hires, and trying to persuade people to retire. He and successfully mediate an implausible but successful inter- his assistants had long stalked a recalcitrant 85-year-old, change between the American tax authorities and the had explained to him (very loudly and with much repeti- British pension system.