Economists set the course for a self-reflective debate

What makes a good economist? 6 Nobel Laureates and 8 young economists give answers.

What is this world going to look like in 50 years – I’m worried and it ought to be a major concern of the profession.

Robert J. Shiller

Robert Shiller is one of six “Nobel Economists” featured in the two short films we produced in eager anticipation of the 5th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences coming up in just a month’s time: 19-23 August 2014.  18 laureates of the “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” will meet with more than 450 aspiring young economists from more than 80 countries.

Shiller was awarded the 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen for their empirical analysis of asset prices. Unlike Joseph Stiglitz, Peter Diamond, Edmund Phelps, and many other renowned laureates, Robert Shiller will unfortunately not be able to participate in the 2014 Lindau Meeting himself. But by expressing his views in our films he has already joined a central debate with the next generation of leading scientists.

“A sense of what’s really important for us to understand…”; “creativity – in order to be able to think of interesting questions…”; “someone who knows how to answer questions…”; “a good economist should have a very strong sense of responsibility…”. These are just a few quotes from the self-reflective debate that started with this video and is likely to shape the 5th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences.

Enjoy watching and continue the debate – also on Twitter, #lindauecon14!

The bad news is economists don’t know enough. The good news to the new generation is there’s more work to do – economics is not finished.
Roger B. Myerson

What Makes a Good Economist?

Featuring:

Nobel Laureates
Peter Diamond (Nobel Prize 2010)
Edmund Phelps (2006)
Eric Maskin (2007)
James Mirrlees (1996)
Roger Myerson (2007)

Young economists,
Lindau alumni (2011 Lindau Meeting on Economic Scieces)
Eduardo Davilla
Dania Francis
Theodore Koutmeridis
Xiaofei Pan
Alex Olbrecht
Dominique Shure
Alex Teytelboym
Pierre-Louis Vézina

Produced by:
Econ Films Ltd.