Scott Sumner asks:
If there are any GMU professors reading this, I have a question. Are
academics allowed to present someone else’s paper in a seminar (if we
correctly identify the author?)
I was inclined to say no, but Scott’s post on an old Bernanke paper changed my mind. The fact that my favorite teacher at Princeton could write this piece but act as he has since 2008 is truly revolting. Read Scott’s whole post – and mind the quote marks.
READER COMMENTS
Paul Walker
Jan 7 2010 at 1:27am
I have been at a seminar where a supervisor presented the results of work done by one of his students. But to be fair the seminar was in New Zealand and the student was in the US at the time, so couldn’t present in person.
Dan
Jan 7 2010 at 9:29am
This is quite a find by Sumner.
“To be clear, it is most emphatically not good practice for monetary policymakers to try to target asset prices directly.” – Bernanke, citing another paper by himself. I might have to go read that one too.
Does anyone know if Bernanke has given a defense of his change in perspective? Has anyone even challenged him on the apparent contradiction between his actions as Fed chairman and his academic work?
Radford Neal
Jan 7 2010 at 12:23pm
This is common practice. They’re called “journal clubs”. Of course, the context for those isn’t the same as a regular seminar series. In that context, it would be rare. But “allowed”? Certainly. However, I would usually expect it only when some possibly groundbreaking paper has just been published, which people are eager to hear about from someone who has read it in detail.
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