Fifty years after Jan Tinbergen’s Nobel Prize, there are still tangible memories of Rotterdam’s most famous professor everywhere on campus. Searching for traces of Rotterdam’s most famous economist, using a photo album, thousands of sheets of paper and the ticket that Tinbergen used to travel through Stockholm in the week of the award ceremony.
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.
