# Nobel prize winner in Economics apparently "not qualified" to sit on Federal Reserve Board! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517 "2011-06-06T17:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/1 "2011-06-06T17:13:56Z")
> [@](#): > > WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Mark Felsenthal and Kristina Cooke) - Nobel Prize winner Peter Diamond said on Sunday he planned to withdraw as a nominee for Federal Reserve governor, after his nomination was repeatedly opposed by Republicans. > > “It is time for me to withdraw, as I plan to inform the White House,” Diamond, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Times titled “When a Nobel Prize isn’t enough.” > > The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Richard Shelby, has criticized Diamond, **saying he lacks monetary policy experience.** [Wow.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/peter-diamond-federal-reserve-nobel-obama_n_871651.html) Richard Shelby has to have balls of steel to make such an obviously bullshit claim. With that kind of nerve, I bet he could tell us the sky is green and still keep a straight face. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/2 "2011-06-06T17:25:33Z")
A quote from the Wiki article on Peter Diamond: > [@](#): > > He has frequently proposed policy adjustments, such as incremental but small increases in social security contributions using actuarial tables to adjust for changes in life expectancy and an increase in the proportion of earnings that are subject to taxation. He advocates tax increases? That clearly makes him unqualified to do anything as far as a Republican goes. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/3 "2011-06-06T17:43:57Z")
Does this surprise anyone? He could’ve studied under both Keynes and Goldstein for all the republicans care; if he isn’t part of their agenda, they won’t have him. Fucking partisan politics… A centrist is completely unwelcome, of course… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/4 "2011-06-06T17:44:26Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Richard Shelby has to have balls of steel to make such an obviously bullshit claim. With that kind of nerve, I bet he could tell us the sky is green and still keep a straight face. You know, i haven’t read any of Peter Diamond’s work, and i really don’t know anything much about him as an economist. I’m also willing to bet, in the same way that i would bet on the sun rising, that the Republicans blocking his nomination are doing so out of partisan political motives rather than anything to do with his experience and abilities. But i do want to point out that it’s perfectly possible to be the recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel without having any real monetary policy experience. Economics is a pretty big discipline, and there are whole swaths of it that really have very little to do with the sort of monetary policy decisions made by the Federal Reserve. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/5 "2011-06-06T18:04:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > A quote from the Wiki article on Peter Diamond: > > He advocates tax increases? That clearly makes him unqualified to do anything as far as a Republican goes. As has been pointed out, it also has nothing to do with monetary policy. I agree that his nomination is doublessly being opposed for partisan reasons, but assuming “economist” means “expert in monetary policy” is very much like assuming that a “scientist” must be an expert in molecular biology. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/6 "2011-06-06T19:06:21Z")
Just echoing the above: the blocking of Peter Diamond is, with utmost certainty, partisan sniping. But the statement that he doesn’t have a great deal of monetary policy experience is essentially accurate; relatively speaking he doesn’t. To my knowledge he’s focused most of his professional attention on retirement issues. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/7 "2011-06-06T19:11:07Z")
[We went through this almost a year ago.](http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/08/monetary_policy_1) You can see Diamond’s publications on SSRN [here](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=21496). ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/8 "2011-06-06T19:14:32Z")
There’s a Nobel Prize in Economy? “Witchcraft! I say.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/9 "2011-06-06T19:40:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As has been pointed out, it also has nothing to do with monetary policy. > > I agree that his nomination is doublessly being opposed for partisan reasons, but assuming “economist” means “expert in monetary policy” is very much like assuming that a “scientist” must be an expert in molecular biology. But “The Professor” on _Gilligan’s Island_ knew everything! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/10 "2011-06-06T19:44:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But “The Professor” on _Gilligan’s Island_ knew everything! He flunked Boat Repair. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/11 "2011-06-06T19:53:08Z")
Well Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize without having done anything to deserve it as far as I can tell. Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/12 "2011-06-06T19:54:04Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > He flunked Boat Repair. Come on! We all know that Prof Hinckley could have patched up the Minnow. He was on a beautiful tropical island with Mary Ann! Why would he want to leave? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/13 "2011-06-06T20:10:49Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Come on! We all know that Prof Hinckley could have patched up the Minnow. He had a name? I never knew that! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/14 "2011-06-06T20:15:42Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > There’s a Nobel Prize in Economy? “Witchcraft! I say.” Well, it is called **The Dismal Science** , after all. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/15 "2011-06-06T20:33:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He had a name? I never knew that! Professor Roy Hinkley. And Skipper Jonas Grumby, for bonus points. Keep 'em locked away – they’re bound to come up at some trivia contest or another at some point in your life. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/16 "2011-06-06T21:35:30Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Fucking partisan politics… A lot of posters in this thread have similarly decried “partisan” politics. I’m curious as to how these people differentiate between partisan and policy. Is the allegation that Republicans object to the guy because he is identified as a Democrat? Or as payback for some past political fight? Or because they think it will give some political (election) advantage to the Democrats? Or is it because they object to his political/fiscal/monetary ideology? Because if it’s the latter, I don’t see anything “partisan” about it. And if it’s the former, I wonder what evidence these posters have for the assertion. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/17 "2011-06-06T22:10:49Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > There’s a Nobel Prize in Economy? “Witchcraft! I say.” No there isn’t. There’s a ‘Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel’ which apes and mimics the real Nobel prizes so successfully that the media talk of Nobel prize-winning economists. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/18 "2011-06-06T23:14:36Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > No there isn’t. There’s a ‘Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel’ which apes and mimics the real Nobel prizes so successfully that the media talk of Nobel prize-winning economists. You say “apes and mimics” as if the prize is some sub-standard knock-off piggybacking on the “real” Nobel prizes, but the fact is that the Sveriges Riksbank Prize is, for all intents and purposes, the Nobel Prize in Economics. It carries the same prestige and significance in economics as the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine and literature do in their respective fields, and it is listed on the official Nobel Prize [website](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/). While the Sveriges Riksbank Prize might have been instituted later, and might not officially be called the Nobel Prize in Economics, for practical purposes it is essentially the same thing. Referring to a “Nobel prize-winning economist” is a completely reasonable shorthand for the media to use, and is caviled at only by pedants. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/19 "2011-06-06T23:24:42Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You say “apes and mimics” as if the prize is some sub-standard knock-off piggybacking on the “real” Nobel prizes, but the fact is that the Sveriges Riksbank Prize is, for all intents and purposes, the Nobel Prize in Economics. > > It carries the same prestige and significance in economics as the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine and literature do in their respective fields, and it is listed on the official Nobel Prize [website](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/). > > While the Sveriges Riksbank Prize might have been instituted later, and might not officially be called the Nobel Prize in Economics, for practical purposes it is essentially the same thing. Referring to a “Nobel prize-winning economist” is a completely reasonable shorthand for the media to use, and is caviled at only by pedants. Burn heeeem! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517/20 "2011-06-06T23:49:35Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Come on! We all know that Prof Hinckley could have patched up the Minnow. > He was on a beautiful tropical island with Mary Ann! > Why would he want to leave? There’s more to it than that. Much, much more. Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-winner-in-economics-apparently-not-qualified-to-sit-on-federal-reserve-board/584517.md?page=2)