Bob Lucas is widely regarded as the most influential economist of the
past 25–30 years, at least among those working in macro and monetary economics.
His work provided the primary stimulus for a drastic overhaul and revitalization
of that broad area, an overhaul that featured the ascendance of rational expectations,
the emergence of a coherent equilibrium theory of cyclical fluctuations, and
specification of the analytical ingredients necessary for the use of econometric
models in policy design. These are the accomplishments for which he was awarded the
1995 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. In addition, he has made outstanding
contributions on other topics—enough, arguably, for another prize. Among these are seminal
writings on asset pricing, economic growth and development, exchange-rate determination, optimal
fiscal and inflation policy, and tools for the analysis of dynamic recursive models.Clearly, Bob Lucas is very much a University of Chicago product; he studied there both as an
undergraduate and as a Ph.D. student and has been on the faculty since 1975. Also, he has served
as chairman of the Chicago Department of Economics and two terms as an editor of the Journal of
Political Economy. Nevertheless, I and several colleagues at Carnegie Mellon like to point out
that Bob was a professor here in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration from 1963 until
1974, during which time he conducted and published the central portions of the work for which he
was awarded the Nobel Prize. Consequently, I could not resist asking Bob a few questions about his
GSIA years in the interview.Many researchers in the economics profession have been impressed and inspired by Lucas's technical
skills, but the clarity and elegance of his writing style also deserve mention, plus his choice of
research topics. The latter is reflective of Bob's utter seriousness of purpose. Each of his projects
attacks a problem that is simultaneously of genuine theoretical interest and also of considerable importance
from the perspective of economic policy. There is nothing frivolous about Lucas's research, as he had
occasion to remind me during our interview.As is well known to those who have been around him, Bob Lucas is a person who never uses three words
when one will suffice—but that one will usually be carefully chosen. This characteristic shows up
in the interview below. As a departure from standard MD Interview practice, and with the Editor's
permission, this interview was conducted at a distance—i.e., via mail and e-mail. It yielded a smaller
number of pages than have previous interviews, but I think that readers will find
them stimulating.
The process of obtaining them was somewhat challenging but highly informative
and thoroughly enjoyable for me.
Effects of enterprise sustainability on performance
