Nobel laureate for Economics Kydland in USC

USC hosts Nobel laureate Kydland

Prof. Finn Erling Kydland, 2004 Nobel Laureate for Economics, visited the University of San Carlos on February 8, 2008 to deliver a keynote speech at the Hoerdemann Building and dialogue with University officials and the public.

Prof. Kydland (center) arrives at the USC lobby flanked by wife Tonya and USC President Fr. Roderick Salazar Jr., SVD.

Prof. Kydland traveled with his wife Tonya, International Peace Foundation (IPF) founder Dr. Uwe Morawetz, and IPF staff Supaporn Bertrand under the IPF Bridges Program (www.peace-foundation.net).

Dr. Uwe Morawetz (right), founder of the International Peace Foundation, gave the rationale for the Bridges program.

In his keynote speech, Prof. Kydland spoke of technological change as one of the main driving economic forces and discussed the examples of Argentina and Ireland. He contrasted the two countries policies and how these affected investor confidence and economic growth. He argued that policies need to be credible, forward-looking, transparent, and consistent for long periods. Quoting from the book Barriers to Riches, he said, “With good policy there is a potential in poor nations for not a 1–2 percent but 1000–2000 percent income increase.”

Prof. Kydland delivers his keynote speech at the Hoerdemann Building.

His speech was followed by a dialogue participated in by students and invited guests from the government and private sectors. University President Fr. Roderick C. Salazar Jr., SVD, M.A. then presented Prof. Kydland with the San Carlos Borromeo Award.

Prof. Kydland splits his time between the Department of Economics of the University of California in Santa Barbara and the Tepper School of Business of the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He shared his 2004 Nobel Prize with Prof. Edward C. Prescott of Arizona State University for their work on business cycles and the time consistency of macroeconomic policy.

Author: P. J. Lim
15 / February / 2008