David Warsh on Stanford Econ

David Warsh, in his role as economist-watcher, in The Providence Journal today (along with some observations about the market for newspapers):


"The Stanford University buildup in economics, financed by the riches of Silicon Valley, continues apace. Susan Athey and Guido Imbens, of Harvard, a married couple, last week accepted an offer. Previously announced was the decision of Alvin Roth, of Harvard Business School, to relocate to Palo Alto. Other offers are said to be in the works.


"Athey and Roth are market designers, at the forefront of especially exciting developments in present-day economics, in which the nexus with technology is especially germain. (Imbens is a highly rated econometrician.) Athey started a research laboratory for Microsoft in Cambridge that has since grown to considerable size. I don't suppose that the leadership of economics itself is in any danger of tipping out of Massachusetts. But it's clearly easier to make things happen on the Left Coast."