First nominated to the Federal Reserve by the Obama administration in April, 2010, then renominated in September, 2010, and again in January of this year, MIT economist Peter Diamond has finally withdrawn his nomination. Taking to the pages of the New York Times today to gripe, Diamond comes off as petulant child.
LAST October, I won the Nobel Prize in economics for my work on unemployment and the labor market. But I am unqualified to serve on the board of the Federal Reserve — at least according to the Republican senators who have blocked my nomination. How can this be?
How can this be? According to Diamond, the Senate blocked his confirmation not because of his big government Keynesianism (which is the reason Republicans cited for blocking him), but because Washington is hyper-partisan, the confirmation process is broken, and because Republicans are dum-dums.
But if you're looking for a silver lining among the clouds, the Senate's stonewalling of Diamond's confirmation may indeed turn out to be a boon for the New York Times. After all, two hyper-partisan, Nobel Prize winning economists must be better than one.
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Jun '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Poor, poor MIT professor. If this society had any dignity at all, we'd treat this oppressed class of elites better. My gosh.
Aug '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
"How can this be?" That's rich! How can it be that our Nobel Laureate, Harvard grad, Constitutional law professor, and beloved community organizer has trashed and nearly demolished the largest and once-strongest economy in the world? Along with its laws and traditions?
I predict within our lifetimes we will see the collapse and disgrace of the Ruling Class, the Ivy League, EU technocrats, and Nobel Laureates.
May '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Liberals give liberal award - Fail to understand why the rest of us are not impressed
May '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
I hope someone tells Diamond to get in line with the rest of the appointees denied their "due." Welcome to the big leagues and out of the Ivory Tower.
Mar '11
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
The Nobel committee likes to tweak America’s nose when Republicans are in charge and give its stamp of approval when the left is ascendant. How else can one explain Barack Obama winning the peace prize? If he succeeds in giving up smoking, will he also snag the prize for medicine?
Peter Diamond seems an odd choice, particularly for Obama. He certainly doesn’t need an expert on unemployment. Who knows more about that than POTUS himself?
Edited on Jun 6, 2011 at 6:23pmOct '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
His nomination is actually a violation of the law. Only one candidate can be from each district. Mr. Diamond is located in Boston (MIT), yet he was nominated for the Chicago district. Once again, the Obama administration ignores any constraints on their power.
Jan '11
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Right. His Nobel Prize ranks right up there with Obama's. Birds of a feather.
Sep '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
I won the Nobel Prize for Peace and they won't take my blood without an AIDS test - Yassir Arrafat
Jun '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
I wonder if Professor Diamond remembers what the Democrats (including his former Senator from Mass.) did to Robert Bork, perhaps the most qualified Supreme Court nominee ever rejected?
Sorry, this is obviously a bad argument because Bork was never lionized by a committee of Norwegians (or is it Swedes?).
Edited on Jun 6, 2011 at 7:59pmOct '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
All this no longer matters. Depressed yet ?
Barnum put on better shows and at least it only cost folk a nickel.
As the humor goes, Barnums shows were so good that people tended not to leave so that more folk with nickels could come thru the front door.
Solution ? Barnum put a sign over a door leading into the alley..
The sign read ...Egress. So people thought the were going to get another amusement for the nickel, well, guess what !!!
Welcome to the real world folks...
Oct '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Oh please no, we don't need another hyperpartisan paranoid freak at the NYT.
Sep '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
First, former economist Paul Krugman. Now this guy. I suppose the economics prize has joined the peace prize in terms of irrelevancy.
Dec '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
It's not even one of Nobel's prizes. It's the "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel."
And it's as politicized as the ones for peace and literature.
Frankly, it doesn't sound like he has the temperament to be a Fed chairman. Pretty whiny and petulant for someone who won the academic equivalent of the $10 for second prize in a beauty contest you sometimes win in Monopoly.
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Jack Richman: The Nobel committee likes to tweak America’s nose when Republicans are in charge and give its stamp of approval when the left is ascendant. How else can one explain Barack Obama winning the peace prize? If he succeeds in giving up smoking, will he also snag the prize for medicine?
Peter Diamond seems an odd choice, particularly for Obama. He certainly doesn’t need an expert on unemployment. Who knows more about that than POTUS himself? · Jun 6 at 6:22pm
Edited on Jun 06 at 06:23 pm
Perhaps Professor Diamond could be invited in by President Obama to replace Austan Goolsbee as head of the Council of Economic Advisers. This administration could use some advice on unemployment.
Nov '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Skimming the post I saw this line and thought "Ah, the economist's name is 'Washington'". Scanning back, I perceived that this was not the case. It took some time for your meaning to set in.
Okay, so Washington is hyper-partisan. Yet non-partisan behavior comes out of there. It is not a forced conclusion. I'd like to return to the factor I initially thought you were invoking: the economist himself appears to be a serious partisan. Maybe Washington Republicans, and perhaps even a few Democrats, are wise enough to realize that it's not a good idea to permit ideologues sway on the Federal Reserve.
Here in the Socialist Paradise of Canada :-) we have an economy partly steered by our Central bank. A formula for ideology-driven disaster, yet our economy has remained relatively strong. Why? It is understood that "the helm" must be held by a steady hand with no axe to grind, and we've had a bit of luck finding such folks. If one must have central economic control at least let it be held by nonpartisans.
Edited on Jun 7, 2011 at 6:32amJun '11
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Of all the fake sciences, economics may be the most offensive.
Always seek the advice of a good accountant but steer clear of the dangerously shallow waters wherein economists swim.
Aug '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Nobel Prize for Economics? He ought to thank Krugman for devaluing that particular currency.
Speaking as Times Man of the Year in 2006, I should know.
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
It certainly can be if used as a justification for the government seizure of freedom and liberty. But what would we do without the Friedmans and Hayeks and Sowells and von Miseses (Mises looks bad in plural form...) of this world who have the talent to demonstrate clearly why the free enterprise system is the best choice for a society that values growth, opportunity, upward social mobility, and freedom? Without economists, we'd have to rely on philosophers to make the case, and philosophers worry me quite a bit more than economists do.
Jun '11
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
Diane Ellis, Ed.
But what would we do without the Friedmans and Hayeks and Sowells and von Miseses (Mises looks bad in plural form...) of this world who have the talent to demonstrate clearly why the free enterprise system is the best choice for a society that values growth, opportunity, upward social mobility, and freedom?
Good point, Diane. I wondered if anyone would call me on my indefensible aphorism.
There have been a handful of economists out there who passed out of the shadows of the cave and beheld the sunrise.
However, the vision and acuity of Friedman, Hayek, et alia., notwithstanding, economics is by and large an activity populated by people who never left the house in the morning with 10 crates of watermelons and came back in the evening with 100 bucks and no watermelons. They seek to describe and create theories about how watermelons are sold without ever actually trying to sell a watermelon.
As a result, they are perpetually fooled by randomness (Nicholas Taleb) and their theories are just that - theories.
p.s. - what is the plural of Mises?Misi?
May '10
Re: Another Nobel Prize Winning Economist Takes to the Pages of the NYT to Whine About Republicans
michael kelley
p.s. - what is the plural of Mises?Misi? · Jun 7 at 12:47pm
Obviously, it's Vons Mises.