Nobel economics laureate Samuelson dies at 94

Reuters ^ | Dec 13, 2009 | Ros Krasny

[decimon]

BOSTON (Reuters) – Paul Samuelson, whose work helped form the basis of modern economics, died on Sunday in his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, after a brief illness. He was 94.

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Among MIT's prominent alumni are Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, Nobel laureate New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, and Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

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[hinckley buzzard]

Wasn't Samuelson the one who said he had seen the Soviet command economy, that it had "the consent of the governed," "and it works"-- right around 1989?

[Porterville]

Well, him, Al Gore, Obama, and Yassar... wow what a bunch of geniuses.. makes my heart freeze

[Lancey Howard]

I think this is the guy who wrote all my college econ textbooks.

[Porterville]

He actually seems to have been a pretty smart guy..

[decimon]

I think this is the guy who wrote all my college econ textbooks.

I believe that his was the most used textbook.

[C19fan]

Samuelson wrote THE Econ 101 textbook. He represented the post-War Keynesian consensus. Also he was the co-author of the major theory of how international trade affects wages and returns of capital, those who argue international wage has had a major negative effect on wages on low skilled workers in the US are right theoretically.

[OldPossum]

“Samuelson wrote THE Econ 101 textbook...”

That is true. That was the textbook that introduced me to economics in college. Unfortunately, the professor was, like Samuelson, a true believer in Keynesian economics. It seems that all of Obama’s economics team is, too.

[C19fan]

During Sameulson’s height everybody was a Keynesian except for a little guy at Chicago named Milton.

[Misterioso]

Don’t forget Ludwig and Friedrich.

[Joe Boucher]

At this point I think more highly of the folks at Mad Magazine than I do at the NObel prizes.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Dedicated Kenynesean.

[Drango]

My Econ 101 book was written by Paul.

[decimon]

I think my intro book was by Heilbroner and someone. Heilbroner was one who came around to capitalism.

[danielmryan]

Liberal he was, but he was also a "Greatest Generation" liberal. The late Henry Hazlitt poked fun at his acolytes by nicknaming them "Growthmen," portraying them as overly-earnest stuffed shirts who insisted that the U.S. economy wasn't growing fast enough.

That stance is light-years away from current liberals. Prof. Samuelson and his "boys" may have been inveterate-tinkerer statists, but their hearts were quite different from the hearts of Al Gore et. al. They really wanted more prosperity, and they did believe in American greatness.

Strange as it may sound to liberal-adverse economists, I think he'll be missed by some conservatives. He was a pillar of the old optimist consensus; he really was.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[MiltonFriedmanFan]

There are several economists who support free markets and oppose Keynes but they don’t get the attention and awards like Krugman and Galbraith. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering the society is the same that awards peace prizes to Arafat, Gore, and Obama.

And how the hell do all these guys live to be 95?