Peter A. Diamond ’60 just won a Nobel prize for his theory of labor markets. Now maybe he can get a job.
To tell the truth, the economist has been employed as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for more than 40 years. But his nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve board of governors has languished since April. “I don’t believe he is ready to be a member of the Federal Reserve,” Republican senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said last summer.
In awarding its economics prize this week to Diamond, Dale Mortensen, and Christopher Pissarides for their work on “search markets,” the Nobel committee asked:“Why are so many people unemployed at the same time that there are a large number of job openings? How can economic policy affect unemployment? This year’s Laureates have developed a theory which can be used to answer these questions.”
Retorted Shelby: “The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences does not determine who is qualified to serve on the Board of Governors.”
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