Wealth
of notions
>> Finally,
22 economists whose ideas have at least one point in common: they
all won the Nobel Prize. Here, in translation, are the theories
that made Chicago famous.
WILL
THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?
When a Chicago faculty member gets that early morning October
call from Sweden, which happened a staggering six times from 1990
to 2000, I am often asked by friends in the administration and
colleagues in other departments if there are still other contenders
left here for the economics prize, or if the "Chicago School"
Nobel well has finally run dry.
First,
there is no one single Chicago School of Economics. Frank Knight,
Jacob Viner, and Henry Simons led the charge in the early 20th
century. They were followed by the Cowles Commission period (1939-55),
when much of modern quantitative methods and mathematical economics
began. Then came what many would term the Friedman era. It focused
on monetary economics, created the workshop approach to research-and
ended 20 years ago. The subsequent generation has produced a number
of laureates, a broader base, and a diversity of research interests,
including finance theory in GSB and the law and economics program
across the Midway.
Second,
the economics department, the Law School, and the Graduate School
of Business continue to lure extraordinarily talented junior and
senior economists to Chicago, and we also grow our own on the
quadrangles. Chicago workshops are still the place to try
out one's latest work. As long as the Academy continues to recognize
ground-breaking research in economic theory and quantitative methods,
creative applications to important (and often controversial) social
problems, empirical assessments of public-policy decision making,
and successful efforts that stretch the discipline's boundaries,
Chicago will be well represented in Stockholm. The pipeline is
certainly not empty of ideas or candidates.
And
in October 2002 the Royal Swedish Academy will award the Nobel
Prize in Economic Sciences to….
A
TASTE OF CHICAGO
MAROON
IN THEIR BLOOD
THE
CHICAGO MACHINE
WILL
THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
©2001 The University
of Chicago® Magazine