Explosive Economists
22 April 2012 at 9:10 pm Peter G. Klein 1 comment
| Peter Klein |
I’ve always liked the actor John Lithgow, not only because of his smarmy yet likeable weirdness (keep your comments to yourselves, please), but also because he’s married to an economist, the UCLA economic historian Mary Yeager. (The late Fred Bateman told me that when he and Yeager were just starting out, no one in their professional circles could understand why she was hanging out with this struggling actor who was obviously never going to make it big.)
So I was amused by a profile in Thursday’s WSJ about Lithgow’s role in an upcoming Broadway play about cold-war journalist Joseph Alsop. Reporter: “You portray Joe Alsop as an explosive man. Did you model him on someone from your own life?” Lithgow: “I’ve known mercurial people who emotionally completely turn on a dime, and they’re very exciting people. My wife is a little like that.”
OK, most economists are not exciting, but I’ve known plenty of mercurial and explosive ones.
Organizations and Markets 
1.
FC | 23 April 2012 at 11:41 pm
“The Explosive Economist” ought to be a pop-econ book. Waste no time, gentlemen. Fame awaits!
Suggested front cover image: Yosemite Sam.