Adriana Kugler at DOL

I learned yesterday that the new chief economist at the US Department of Labor, replacing the outgoing Betsey Stevenson, is my friend Adriana Kugler.

Congratulations Adriana!

Alan Krueger as CEA chair

I think Alan is a very good choice. He is serious, thoughtful, empirically oriented and, as far as I know, didn't really want the job.

Economist post-tenure hobbies

In the last couple of months I have learned that two of my economist friends have embarked on novel post-tenure hobbies. One is restoring old tractors. To my surprise, there is a whole industry devoted to supplying this hobby, such as this store. The other has become a part-time lavender farmer. Oddly, the website for my friend's lavender farm does not highlight the fact that it is run in part by an economist, something one might imagine would be a major selling point.

Lately, my hobby has been buying too many books at Borders before it closes for good. I'll have to think of a new one after that.

Another one crossed off the bucket list ...

#83479 Watching economists dance to Lady Gaga

Addendum: I figured out the song they were dancing to:

I like the irony of playing this at a wedding, though they did not push the joke all the way by playing Paul Anka's wretched "Having My Baby".

Reactions to economics

My former colleague John Palmer at Western Ontario has defined an "official gesture" for his students, and collected photographs of its use.

Interview with Larry Summers

This is well worth a read. The link is to Felix Salmon's post about the interview; you can get to the interview from there.

The best bit is about the Winklevoss boys, a.k.a. the Winklevii, and the scene related to them from the Facebook movie:

MR. ISAACSON: So was that scene in the social network true?

(Laughter.)

DR. SUMMERS: I've heard it said that I can be arrogant.

(Laughter.)

DR. SUMMERS: If that's true, I surely was on that occasion. One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o'clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they're looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an asshole.

(Laughter; applause.)

DR. SUMMERS: This was the latter case. Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind.

I found the bit near the end where Summers compares the management styles of Clinton and Obama quite interesting. I am probably more like Clinton, to the extent I ever manage anything. Not sure where I would have picked up that management style.

I was also quite impressed with Larry's very moderate partisanship. Unlike certain other famous economists (well, one particular famous economist with a column in the New York Times), Larry finds much good to say about Republicans and about certain of their policy proposals. He really seems to have thought about issues, both political and economic, from multiple perspectives and learned from the experience of having done so. Note, for example, the positive remarks about tort reform and the lukewarm enthusiasm for green technology.

Like Felix Salmon, this interview raised my opinion a lot and helped to fill in why people I know who know Larry personally, as I do not, hold him in such high esteem.

Via: MR