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Jan Tinbergen

Dutch economist (1903-1994) · Netherlands · Academics · Died at 91

Jan Tinbergen is read about 122 times a day, in 65 languages.

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He built the first working models of entire economies - systems of equations that let governments test policy before enacting it. The machinery he invented turned economics from philosophy into engineering, and in 1969 it won him half of the first economics Nobel ever awarded.

A life in dates

1994Died9 June 1994“Mankind’s problems can no longer be solved by national governments. What is needed is a World Government. This can best be achieved by strengthening the United Nations system.”In their wordsIn: United Nations, Human Development Report 1994, (1994), p. 88

1992Four Freedoms Award - Freedom from WantAward1985De Gouden GanzenveerAward1973“For some queer and deplorable reason most human beings are more impressed by words than by figures, to the great disadvantage of mankind.”In their wordsJan Tinbergen. "The necessity of quantitative social research." Sankhyā: The Indian Journal of Statistics, Series B (1973): 141-148.

1970Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of ParisAward1969Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelAward1967Erasmus PrizeAward1964Honorary Doctor of the University of BordeauxAward1962“The world is in a process of a great transformation. In a considerable part of it a new economic order, "communism," is being vigorously tried out.”In their wordsp. 3 : Lead in paragraph "introducing the book"

“The factor of distance may also stand for an index of information about export markets.”In their wordsp. 263

“The dominant role played by... exporters’ and importers’ GNP and distance in explaining trade flows.”In their wordsp. 266

1959Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of GrenobleAwardHonorary Doctorate from the University of StrasbourgAward1953“Econometrics is the name for a field of science in which mathematical-economic and mathematical-statistical research are applied in combination.”In their wordsp. 3; Cited in: Econometrica: journal of the Econometric Society. (1953) p. 36

1933Fellow of the Econometric SocietyAward1930Legatum StolpianumAward1903Born12 April 1903

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

In their own words 10

,
Jan Tinbergen
,
10 statements, newest first
  1. Mankind’s problems can no longer be solved by national governments. What is needed is a World Government. This can best be achieved by strengthening the United Nations system.

    1994, In: United Nations, Human Development Report 1994, (1994), p. 88, Own words

  2. To Ehrenfest I owe a great deal. I studied physics at a time when a number of fascinating persons were there together.

    1987, In: NRC-Handelsblad in 1987; as quoted in: Jan Tinbergen at MacTutor History of Mathematics, 2009: Quote about one of his teachers at the, Own words

  3. For some queer and deplorable reason most human beings are more impressed by words than by figures, to the great disadvantage of mankind.

    1973, Jan Tinbergen. "The necessity of quantitative social research." Sankhyā: The Indian Journal of Statistics, Series B (1973): 141-148., Own words

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Awards

Four Freedoms Award - Freedom from Want1992
De Gouden Ganzenveer1985
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Paris1970
Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel1969
Erasmus Prize1967
Honorary Doctor of the University of Bordeaux1964
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Strasbourg1959
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Grenoble1959
Fellow of the Econometric Society1933
Legatum Stolpianum1930
Honorary Doctor of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Fellow of the American Statistical Association

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About this person

Jan Tinbergen was born in the Netherlands on 12 April 1903. He developed the first macroeconometric models - mathematical frameworks that captured how economies actually moved - and solved the identification problem that had stalled earlier attempts to read causation from data. In 1945 he founded the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, serving as its first director and proving that his models could guide real policy. The work earned him the inaugural Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1969, shared with Ragnar Frisch for applying dynamic models to economic processes. He became a founding trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. He died on 9 June 1994, widely considered one of the founding fathers of econometrics and among the most influential economists of the twentieth century.

Country
Netherlands
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1903 to 1994 · aged 91

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