Friday, June 15, 2012

A great loss (by Pedja dell'Arno)

I just knew that Elinor Ostrom passed away. This is really a great loss. What was impressive of her was how she revolutionized interdisciplinary work in social sciences. Many times, people who claim to do interdisciplinary work take it as an excuse to be a "dilettante" in many fields and none at the same time. Ostrom was a deep scientist. She was one of the non-economists to receive the Economics Nobel Prize, and her Nobel Prize Lecture was a lesson in wisdom. I have come to the conclusion over the years, and after seeing both of them lecturing, that of the two institutionalists Nobel Prize winners of the same year, the really impressive one was Ostrom, despite Williamson being better known among economists.


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