50 years after Tinbergen’s Nobel Prize

Jan Tinbergen is still one of the best-known Dutch economists. On December 10, 1969 he received the first Nobel Prize in economics. Tinbergen has been part of the (forerunner of) Erasmus University since 1933. Forty years later he retired. The Nobel Prize winner is seen as the founding father of the Econometrics and he was one of the founders of the Dutch Centraal Planbureau. In this special we look back on various aspects of Tinbergen’s work.

Do economic models actually reflect reality? Full Professor of Econometrics Philip Hans Franses discusses economic crisis predictions and Jan Tinbergen’s legacy.

Bas Jacobs, Uwe Thümmel and Peter van Bergeijk all have their own connection with Jan Tinbergen. “Wherever I ended up, people asked me to give him their regards.”

Immediately after the unveiling ceremony of the bust of the famous economist Jan Tinbergen, his daughter Hanneke lovingly stroked the ‘hair’. “We were always allowed to do that to him on Sundays”, she said. She and her sister Els used to think their father’s hair looked rather bristly. “It looked a bit like a hedgehog”, said Els. “But it was very soft”, Hanneke assured.

A Nobel laureate discussed poverty, a professor of economics talked about the university’s values, and a government minister discussed the Netherlands’ prospects. All the speeches given at this year’s Dies Natalis festivities evoked the spirit of Jan Tinbergen.

What do you know about Jan Tinbergen? Reporter Pietro Vigilanza quizzed students around campus on their knowledge of the professor.

Carillonist Mathieu Polak has composed a special piece for the 106th Dies Natalis: the Tinbergen Variations.

During the Dies Natalis Esther Duflo and Dani Rodrik received honorary doctorates, in the spirit of Jan Tinbergen’s work. Right before the birthday of the university, Duflo also received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.