Sad News - Alberto Alesina

From: James Poterba <poterba_at_nber.org>
Date: Sun, 24 May 2020 18:09:01 -0400

Dear Research Colleagues -

I am very sorry to share the news that Alberto Alesina, the founding
director of the NBER's Political Economy program and a Research
Associate in that program and three others -- Economic Fluctuations and
Growth, Monetary Economics, and Public Economics - passed away
unexpectedly on Saturday afternoon.  He was the Nathaniel Ropes
Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University.

Alesina was one of the founders of the modern field of political
economy.  His research ranged widely and highlighted the central role of
political institutions in analyzing economic policy and outcomes.  He
made long-lasting contributions on topics including the role of central
bank independence in affecting macroeconomic performance, the impact of
both tax- and spending-based austerity programs on economic growth, and
the role of culture, trust, ethnic fragmentation, and other factors in
affecting the size and structure of social safety nets and
redistribution policy more broadly.

At NBER, Alesina launched the Political Economy program in 2006 and led
its growth over the last fourteen years into a vibrant intellectual
community that today draws together theoretical and empirical
researchers who are studying a broad array of exciting questions.

Alesina received his undergraduate training at the Universita Bocconi in
Milan and his Ph.D. at Harvard.   He taught at Carnegie Mellon
University as an assistant professor before joining the Harvard faculty,
where he spent the balance of his career.   He also maintained an
affiliation with IGIER, the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic
Research, at Bocconi.  He was widely-recognized for his research
contributions, and was a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences and the Econometric Society.

Alesina was not just an important and influential researcher, but an
intellectual entrepreneur and an active provider of professional public
goods.  He will be deeply missed.

Jim Poterba
Received on Sun May 24 2020 - 19:01:48 EDT