Lawrence R. Klein
Lawrence Klein’s Nobel: Won 1980 Prize for “the creation of econometric models and the application to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies”What Lawrence Klein researched: Klein is one of the pioneers of creating economic forecasting models to understand and predict business cycle fluctuations.
What Lawrence Klein has said about the election: In an interview with Japanese media outlet Asahi Klein made statements comparing the Bush administration unfavourably to the Clinton administration:
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The Clinton administration had a more prudent fiscal policy with monetary accommodation. This brought down longer-term rates, which in turn stimulated private investment. Now, the economy is in a huge deficit position. This is because of the Bush administration's policy of huge military spending accompanied by skewed tax cuts implemented since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Douglass C. North
Douglass North’s Nobel: Won 1993 Prize for “having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change”What Douglass North researched: North’s research is historical in nature and has looked at topics such as the economic growth of the United States prior to the civil war. North has emphasized the need to understand how economic institutions are shaped by ideological and non-economic factors.
What Douglass C. North has said about the election: While not about the election specifically, North was one of many economists who earlier this year in a a panel in Copenhagen called for increased global consensus for “solving global woes” and stated that “finding a way to end warfare is probably the most important challenge facing mankind”.
Paul A. Samuelson
Paul Samuelson’s Nobel: Won 1970 Prize for “the scientific work through which he has developed static and dynamic economic theory and actively contributed to raising the level of analysis in economic science”What Paul Samuelson researched: Like Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson has studied just about everything you can study in economics. His text “Economics: An Introductory Analysis” highly influenced two generations of economics graduates.
What Paul Samuelson has said about the election: Samuelson has been quite critical of Bush’s tax cutting policies and wrote an editorial on the subject titled “Doubts About The Bush Tax Cuts”. (A PDF file of the editorial is available here. In the editorial Samuelson argues against running deficits:
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Actuarial experts keep warning that our governmental social security system is deeply underfunded; and the expensive new medical treatments that we will all be relying on to increase longevity and make old age a joy rather than a pain provide further reasons why American society ought to be stepping up its total saving rate during both of George Bush’s possible terms and for half a dozen four-year terms after that.
Robert Solow
Robert Solow’s Nobel: Won 1987 Prize for “his contributions to the theory of economic growth”.What Robert Solow researched: Solow is perhaps most famous for the “Solow Growth Model” which details the relationship between the level of the capital stock, technological change, and the per capita economic growth rate.
What Robert Solow has said about the election: Solow has been a harsh critic of the Bush presidency stating “The fiscal polices of this administration are systematically sacrificing the future of this nation” (Source: AFL-CIO).
Conclusion
There are prominent economists with a great deal of knowledge of economic policy on both sides of the election divide. It is clear from the facts given that the choice for these economists to support Kerry or Bush is somewhat based their own ideological biases. What is unclear is if these Nobel Prize winners in Economics have more insight into which candidate would make the best President as any other informed voter has.Have a comment or question about this article or any other economic issue? You can contact the author by using the feedback form.