Baltimore Orioles fans know that the team could use some free agents in preparation for next season, particularly one or two big name starting pitchers and a slugging outfielder or two. But professional baseball is hardly the only segment associated with big name free agents. Take economics as another example.
In order to build a better economics department, Stanford University has recruited an all star lineup of economists to Palo Alto. As reported by writer Neil Irwin, the newest Stanford professors include a Nobel Laureate – Alvin Roth, formerly of Harvard. But what Stanford has really focused upon is the next generation of stars. Of the eleven people who have secured the John Bates Clark Medal for best economist under the age of forty since two thousand, four are at Stanford, more than at any other university.
This may be a reflection of a broader shift in the study of economics, in which cutting edge work relies less on a big brained individual scholar at Harvard or the University of Chicago developing mathematical theories, and more on the ability to crunch large datasets to glean practical insights that can help support entrepreneurship and profitability.
