16 Nobel Laureates, 360 early-career economists, 66 nations: that was the 6th Lindau Conference of Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences. Two of the coveted places at the conference went to research assistants from the Institute of Economics: alongside Jan Schneider, Mathias Mier also succeeded in the multi-stage application procedure. Here is his experience report.
Lindau, Wednesday 29 August 2017. Heavily armed police officers, broad-shouldered security guards in baggy jackets, police helicopters circling overhead, security checks at the municipal theatre. Why? The 6th Lindau Conference of Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences is currently taking place. Every year, the Nobel laureates meet at Lake Constance – this time, the chemists were already there in June, and now, at the end of August, it is the economists’ turn (even though the economists are not actually ‘proper’ Nobel Prize winners, but rather recipients of the Memorial Prize). Mier and Schneider are right in the thick of it, alongside 360 other ‘Young Economists’ from 66 countries. Everyone had gone through a selection procedure of varying complexity. For us, it involved three rounds: we had to submit a written piece twice, and once we had to turn up in person on Rose Monday for a 10-minute chat in Hamburg. Then, in mid-May, we received the news: we’d made it. Brilliantly organised (there was even a dedicated app) and wonderfully guided through the programme by Countess Bernadotte (formerly of the Swedish royal family, now based in Mainau), the whole event is funded behind the scenes by foundations. Each selected ‘Young Economist’ received a grant of 5,000 EUR. It sounds like a lot, and it is. Many, however, waited until the very end for the big finale – a gala dinner with Michelin-starred chefs, a hot tub on the final boat trip to Mainau – but none of that materialised. Instead, 16 Nobel laureates, Mario Draghi and Peter Altmeier turned up.
“We have sex because we want to”
The 16 Nobel laureates were, of course, the centrepiece of the event. Most of them received their Nobel Prizes for work carried out in the 1970s and 1980s, which made them no less interesting. Each gave a 30-minute presentation on a topic of their choice. Robert Aumann, born in Frankfurt am Main (2005 laureate, game theory), was the absolute highlight. His focus was on what drives people. According to him, people do not have sex for reproductive purposes, but because they want to, because they crave it, or simply for fun. It is entertaining to hear such a thing from the mouth of a white-bearded, 87-year-old conservative Israeli. In my view, Christopher Sims (2011, macroeconomics) put forward the most compelling arguments, James Heckmann (2000, analysis of selective samples) gave the best presentation, and Finn Kydland (2004, macroeconomics) was the best to party with, whilst Jean Tirole (2014, Market Power and Regulation) was, in turn, remarkably funny.
“We are not alone in the universe”
Peter Altmeier was flown in for the gala dinner and gave a 60-minute speech. He called for global free trade, justifying this on the basis of comparative cost advantages. However, this theory – first developed by David Ricardo as far back as 1817 – no longer adequately reflects the mechanisms of trade between developed and less developed countries and is therefore considered outdated. The final sentence of his speech raised a few eyebrows in the audience, as he offered every award winner present a job in Germany and made it clear that we are “not alone in the universe”. His entire performance had a distinct election campaign feel to it. Fortunately, there was some excellent Palatinate wine.
In contrast, Mario Draghi delivered a very successful opening speech on Wednesday morning. And once he had left after the lunch break, there were no more heavily armed police officers or circling helicopters. After that, it was back to a perfectly normal conference.
Mathias Mier completed his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin in 2013. In the same year, he became a research assistant in the Department of Public Finance at the Institute of Economics, University of Oldenburg. His main research interest lies in the future design of electricity markets under the influence of high proportions of fluctuating renewable energies such as wind and solar power.
