Quoting William Vogt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Faustine sez:
> [David Friedman has published . . .]
> > Nothing good enough to get mentioned at NBER, the
> > veritable gold standard
> > (if
> > you'll allow) of academic research in economics.
>
> 5 minutes of time at econlit (the standard index
> of economics literature) produces tens of
> papers by David Friedman. A sample of the
> places of publication:
>
> Journal of Law and Economics (more than once)
> Journal of Political Economy (more than once)
> American Economic Review
>
> AER is usually considered the top economics
> journal. JPE is in everyone's top 5 and it
> would be reasonable to rank it second behind
> AER.
I'm sure you know that writing a tiny response or comment in reply to someone
else's article isn't the same as having your own research published there.
Personally I wouldn't expect to get the same cachet from it as if I'd done
anything substantial. Seems a little like disingenuous padding to me.
JLE is the top journal in "law and
> economics" which is Friedman's field.
>
> It is difficult to reconcile
> D Friedman's publication record with the claim
> that he is not a good economist.
I still find it unimpressive. I also find what I've read so far unimpressive:
the tone is just a tad too slack, as if he's writing for people who already
agree with him. Frankly, I know for a fact there's no way my professors would
even let me turn them in as papers. I find it hard to see how you can call it
research at all, it's partisan theorizing at best.
In contrast, I read a paper last night by Michael Lipton, "The State-Market
Dilemma, Civil Society, and Structural Adjustment". It used data in a totally
unobtrusive way--and I came away from it feeling like I really learned
something conceptually useful, regardless of whether I ultimately agreed with
its conclusions. I just wasn't getting this sense from the Friedman essays.
Do you really mean to say you think Friedman is up to NBER standards? Maybe I
just haven't read the right thing yet; let me know what you think his best
stuff is and I'll give it a shot.
> -- Bill Vogt
> Carnegie Mellon University
> NBER
For what it's worth, I liked your work MUCH better.
~Faustine.
****
'We live in a century in which obscurity protects better than the law--and
reassures more than innocence can.' Antoine Rivarol (1753-1801).
