Robert Alexander "Bob" Mundell
C.C. (born
October 24,
1932)
is a professor of economics at
Columbia University. Mundell was born in
Canada and is a graduate of the
University of British Columbia in
Vancouver. He attended the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he
obtained his
PhD in
Economics in 1956. He also attended the
London School of Economics and was a top performer in his
years there. He went on to win the 1999
Nobel Prize in Economics. Since 1974 he has been a professor
in the Economics department at Columbia University; since 2001
he has held Columbia's highest academic rank - University
Professor. He was also economics professor at
McGill University and the
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies,
Johns Hopkins University. In 2002 he was made a Companion of
the
Order of Canada. Robert Mundell, chair of economics at
University of Waterloo in the 1970s, laid the groundwork for
the introduction of the
euro
through his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum
currency forms for which he won the 1999 Nobel Prize in
Economics.
In June 2005 he was awarded the Global Economics Prize World
Economics Institute in
Kiel,
Germany and in September 2005 he was made a Cavaliere di
Gran Croce del Reale Ordine del Merito sotto il Titolo di San
Ludovico by Principe Don Carlo Ugo di Borbone Parma.
The
Mundell International University of Entrepreneurship in the
Zhongguancun district of
Beijing,
People's Republic of China is named in his honor.
Among his major contributions are:
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Work on international monetary flows
Mundell is best known in politics for his support of
tax cuts and
supply-side economics; however, among economists it is his
work on currency areas and international
exchange rates which caused him to be awarded the
Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred
Nobel by the Bank of Sweden (Sveriges
Riksbank). Nevertheless, supply side economics featured
prominently in his Bank of Sweden prize speech.
In the 1960s Canada, of which Mundell is a native, floated
its exchange - this caused Mundell to begin investigating the
results of
floating exchange rates, a phenomenon not widely seen since
the 1930's "Stockholm
School" successfully lobbied
Sweden to leave the gold standard.
In 1962, along with
Marcus Fleming, he co-authored the
Mundell-Fleming model of exchange rates, and noted that it
was impossible to have domestic autonomy, price stability,
and free capital flows - that two, and only two, of these
objectives could be met. The model is, in effect, an extension
of the
IS/LM model applied to currency rates.
According to Mundell's analysis:
- Discipline under the
Bretton Woods system was more due to the US
Federal Reserve than to the discipline of gold.
- Demand side
fiscal policy would be ineffective in restraining
central banks under a floating exchange rate system.
- Single currency zones relied, therefore, on similar
levels of price stability, where a single monetary policy
would suffice for all.
His analysis led to his conclusion that it was a disagreement
between
Europe and the
United States over the rate of inflation, partially to
finance the
Vietnam War, and that Bretton Woods disintegrated because of
the undervaluing of gold and the consequent monetary discipline
breakdown. There is a famous point/counter-point over this issue
between Mundell and
Milton Friedman.[1]
This work would later lead to the creation of the
euro,
and his prediction that leaving the Bretton Woods system would
lead to "stagflation"
so long as highly progressive income tax rates applied. In 1974
he advocated a drastic tax reduction and a flattening of income
tax rates.
Mundell, though lionized by some conservatives, has many of
his harshest critics from the right: he denies the need for a
fixed gold based currency or currency board[citation
needed]- though he often recommends this as
a policy in
hyper-inflationary environments - and he is both a fiscal
and
balance of payments deficit hawk. He is well known for
stating that in a floating exchange rate system, expansion of
the money supply can only come about through a positive balance
of payments.
[edit]
The TV personality
Robert Mundell has appeared on
CBS's
Late Show with David Letterman. His first appearance was in
October 2002[2]
where he gave
The Top 10 List on "Ways My Life has Changed Since Winning
the Nobel Prize." In March of 2004[3]
he told "You
might be a redneck" jokes followed in May of 2004[4]
with "Yo
Mama" jokes. In September of 2004[5]
he appeared again, this time to read excerpts from
Paris Hilton's memoir at random moments throughout the show.
In November of 2005[6]
he told a series of
Rodney Dangerfield's jokes. On
February 7,
2006[7]
he read
Grammy Award nominated song lyrics, the night before CBS
aired the
48th Grammy Awards.
Robert Mundell has also appeared on
China Central Television's popular
Lecture Room series.
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See also
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References and notes
-
^
Mundell-Friedman debate
-
^
show #1891
-
^
show #2144
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^
show #2162
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^
show # 2238
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^
show #2466
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^
show #2505
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External links
