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*Robert Alexander Mundell*, CC
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Canada> (October 24, 1932 –
April 4, 2021) was a Canadian economist
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist>. He was a professor of
economics at Columbia University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University> and the Chinese
University of Hong Kong
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_University_of_Hong_Kong>.
He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences>
in 1999 for his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum
currency areas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area>.^[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-Nobelprize-1>
Mundell is known as the "father" of the euro
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro>,^[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-:0-6> as he laid
the groundwork for its introduction through this work and helped to
start the movement known as supply-side economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics>.^[7]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-7> Mundell was
also known for the Mundell–Fleming model
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell%E2%80%93Fleming_model> and
Mundell–Tobin effect
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell%E2%80%93Tobin_effect>.
Contents
o 1 Background
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Background>
o 2 Career <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Career>
o 3 International monetary flows
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#International_monetary_flows>
o 4 Father of the euro
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Father_of_the_euro>
o 5 Awards and honours
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Awards_and_honours>
o 6 Television appearances
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Television_appearances>
o 7 See also <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#See_also>
o 8 References
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#References>
o 9 Selected publications
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#Selected_publications>
o 10 External links
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#External_links>
Background
Mundell was born in Kingston, Ontario
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston,_Ontario>, Canada, the son
of Lila (Knifton) and William Mundell.^[8]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-8> He earned
his BA in Economics at the University of British Columbia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_British_Columbia> in
Vancouver <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver>, Canada, and his
MA at the University of Washington
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington> in Seattle
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle>, United States.^[/citation
needed <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>/]
After studying at the University of British Columbia and at The
London School of Economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics> in
1956,^[9] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-9>
he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology>
(MIT), where he obtained his PhD
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy> in Economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics> in 1956. In 2006 Mundell
earned an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of
Waterloo
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Waterloo>.^[10]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-10> He was
Professor of Economics and Editor of the Journal of Political
Economy <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Political_Economy>
at the University of Chicago
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago> from 1965 to
1972, Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of
Waterloo <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Waterloo> 1972
to 1974 and since 1974 he had been Professor of Economics at
Columbia University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University>.^[11]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-11> He also
held the post of Repap Professor of Economics at McGill University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University>.^[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-Nobelprize-1>
^[12]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-Robertmundell.net-12>
Since the 1970s he spent much of his time with his wife in their
home in Siena <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena>, Tuscany
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuscany>, Italy, where he died at 88
on April 4, 2021, of cholangiocarcinoma
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholangiocarcinoma>.^[13]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-13> ^[14]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-14> ^[15]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-15>
Career
From 1974 until his death he had been a professor in the Economics
department at Columbia University; and from 2001 he had held
Columbia's highest academic rank – University Professor
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Professor>. After
completing his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago> in 1957, he
began teaching economics at Stanford University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University>, and then Paul
H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_H._Nitze_School_of_Advanced_International_Studies>
at Johns Hopkins University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University> during
1959–1961.^[2]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-webapps-2>
In 1961, he went on to staff the International Monetary Fund
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund>. Mundell
returned to academics as professor of economics at the University of
Chicago from 1966 to 1971, and then served as professor during
summers at the Graduate Institute of International Studies
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Institute_of_International_Studies>
in Geneva <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva> until 1975. In
1989, he was appointed to the post of Repap Professor of Economics
at McGill University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University>.^[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-Nobelprize-1>
^[12]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-Robertmundell.net-12>
In the 1970s, he laid the groundwork for the introduction of the
euro <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro> through his pioneering
work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency forms for which he
won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics. During this time he continued
to serve as an economic adviser to the United Nations
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations>, the IMF, the World
Bank <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank>, the European
Commission <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission>, the
Federal Reserve Board
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Board>, the United
States Department of Treasury
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Treasury>
and the governments of Canada and other countries. He was the
Distinguished Professor-at-Large of The Chinese University of Hong
Kong
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chinese_University_of_Hong_Kong>.
His 1971 Princeton tract /The dollar and the policy mix/ is credited
with founding supply-side economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics> (Bartlett
1971, p 101).
Among his major contributions are:
o Theoretical work on optimum currency areas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area>^[16]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-:1-16>
o Contributions to the development of the euro
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro>^[16]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-:1-16>
o Helped start the movement known as supply-side economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics>^[17]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-17>
o Historical research on the operation of the gold standard
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard> in different eras
o Predicted the inflation
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation> of the 1970s
o Mundell–Fleming model
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell%E2%80%93Fleming_model>
o Mundell–Tobin effect
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell%E2%80%93Tobin_effect>
International monetary flows
Mundell is best known in politics for his support of tax cuts
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_cut> and supply-side economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics>; however, in
economics it is for his work on currency areas^[18]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-18> and
international exchange rates
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_rate>^[19]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-19> that he
was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in
Memory of Alfred Nobel
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Economics> by the Bank
of Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_Riksbank>). Nevertheless,
supply-side economics featured prominently in his Bank of Sweden
prize speech.
In the 1960s, Mundell's native Canada floated its exchange rate:
this caused Mundell to begin investigating the results of floating
exchange rates
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_exchange_rate>, a phenomenon
not widely seen since the 1930s "Stockholm School
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_school_(economics)>"
successfully lobbied Sweden <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden>
to leave the gold standard
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard>.
In 1962, along with Marcus Fleming
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Fleming>, he co-authored the
Mundell–Fleming model
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell%E2%80%93Fleming_model> of
exchange rates, and noted that it was impossible to have domestic
autonomy, fixed exchange rates, /and/ free capital flows: no more
than two of those objectives could be met. The model is, in effect,
an extension of the IS/LM model
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS/LM_model> applied to currency rates.
According to Mundell's analysis:
o Discipline under the Bretton Woods system
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system> was more
due to the US Federal Reserve
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System> than to
the discipline of gold.
o Demand side fiscal policy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_policy> would be
ineffective in restraining central banks
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank> under a floating
exchange rate system.
o Single currency zones relied, therefore, on similar levels of
price stability, where a single monetary policy would suffice
for all.
His analysis led to his conclusion that it was a disagreement
between Europe <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe> and the United
States <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> over the rate
of inflation, partially to finance the Vietnam War
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War>, and that Bretton Woods
disintegrated because of the undervaluing of gold and the consequent
monetary discipline breakdown. There is a famous point/counterpoint
over this issue between Mundell and Milton Friedman
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman>.^[20]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-20>
This work later led to the creation of the euro
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro> and his prediction that leaving
the Bretton Woods system would lead to "stagflation
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagflation>" so long as highly
progressive income tax rates applied. In 1974, he advocated a
drastic tax reduction and a flattening of income tax rates.
Mundell, though lionized by some conservatives, has many of his
harshest critics from the right: he denied the need for a fixed
gold-based currency or currency board^[/citation needed
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>/] (he
still often recommended this as a policy in hyperinflationary
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation> environments) and he
was both a fiscal and balance of payments
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_payments> deficit hawk. He
is well known for stating that in a floating exchange rate system,
expansion of the money supply can come about only by a positive
balance of payments.
In 2000, Mundell recommended that Canada
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada> permanently tie its dollar
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_dollar>'s value to the U.S.
dollar <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_dollar>.^[21]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-21>
Father of the euro
Robert Mundell was considered the "father of the euro
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro>" for his early work encouraging
a European monetary union.^[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-:0-6> ^[22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-22> Starting
in the 1960s, Mundell supported the constitution of a European
Economic and Monetary Union
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_and_Monetary_Union_of_the_European_Union>
and pushed for the creation of the euro.^[23]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-23>
In 2000, he predicted that before 2010, the eurozone
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurozone> would expand to cover 50
countries, while the U.S. dollar would spread throughout Latin
America, and much of Asia would look towards the yen.^[24]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-24> Such
predictions have proved highly inaccurate.
In his 2012 article "Robert Mundell, evil genius of the euro", Greg
Palast <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Palast> affirms that
Mundell advocated for the euro because its implementation would have
the effect of removing democratic control over monetary policy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_policy>. As such, when a
crisis hits, eurozone governments would not be able to stimulate the
economy by creating money, as is prescribed by Keynesian economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics>. They would thus
be forced to resort to other means to curtail unemployment, such as
deregulating businesses, privatizing state industries, cutting
taxes, and weakening the social safety net
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_safety_net>.^[25]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-25>
In 2014, Mundell voiced his opposition to proposals of a fiscal
union <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_union> between the
European states. He declared that "it would be insane to have a
central European authority that controls all the taxes and duties of
the states ... controlled in the Union. This transfer of sovereignty
is far too big". He also voiced his opposition to the prospect that
countries could be liable for other countries' debt.^[26]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-26>
Awards and honours
Mundell was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_Fellowship> in 1971 and
the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economics> in
1999.^[27]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-27> ^[28]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-28> In 2002
he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Canada>.^[29]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-29>
In 1992, Mundell received a Docteur honouris Causa
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docteur_Honoris_Causa> from the
University of Paris
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris>. Mundell's
honourary professorships and fellowships were from Brookings
Institution <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookings_Institution>,
the University of Chicago, the University of Southern California
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California>,
McGill University <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University>,
the University of Pennsylvania
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Pennsylvania>, the
Bologna Center <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_Center> and
Renmin University of China
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renmin_University_of_China>. He
became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences>
in 1998. In June 2005 he was awarded the Global Economics Prize
World Economics Institute in Kiel
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel>, Germany
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany>, and in September 2005 he
was made a /Cavaliere di Gran Croce del Reale Ordine del Merito
sotto il Titolo di San Ludovico/ by Principe Don Carlo Ugo di
Borbone Parma.
The Mundell International University of Entrepreneurship
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mundell_International_University_of_Entrepreneurship&action=edit&redlink=1>
in the Zhongguancun <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhongguancun>
district of Beijing <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing>,
People's Republic of China
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China>, is
named in his honour.^[30]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-30>
Mundell won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1999 and
gave as his prize lecture a speech titled "A Reconsideration of the
Twentieth Century". According to the Nobel Prize Committee, he got
the honour for "his analysis of monetary and fiscal policy under
different exchange rate regimes and his analysis of optimum currency
areas".
Mundell concluded in that lecture that "the international monetary
system depends only on the power configuration of the countries that
make it up". He divided the entire twentieth century into three
parts by different periods of time:
o The first third of the century, from its beginning to the Great
Depression of the 1930s, economics was dominated by the
confrontation of the Federal Reserve System with the gold standard.
o The second third of the century was from World War II to 1973,
when the international monetary system was dominated by fixing
the price of gold with the US dollar.
o The last third of the century started with the destruction of
the old monetary system due to the problem of inflation.
With the destruction of the old monetary system, a new international
monetary system was finally founded. Controlling inflation by each
country became a main topic during this era.
Television appearances
Mundell appeared on CBS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS>'s /Late
Show with David Letterman
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Show_with_David_Letterman>/. His
first appearance was on October 17, 2002,^[31]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-31> where he
gave The Top 10 List
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_10_list_(David_Letterman)> on
"Ways My Life has Changed Since Winning the Nobel Prize." In March
2004^[32]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-32> he told
"You might be a redneck
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Foxworthy>" jokes, followed in
May 2004^[33]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-33> with "Yo
Mama <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_insult>" jokes. In
September 2004^[34]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-34> he
appeared again, this time to read excerpts from Paris Hilton
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Hilton>'s memoir at random
moments throughout the show. In November 2005^[35]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-35> he told
a series of Rodney Dangerfield
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Dangerfield>'s jokes. On
February 7, 2006,^[36]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-36> he read
Grammy Award <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award> nominated
song lyrics, the night before CBS aired the 48th Grammy Awards
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/48th_Grammy_Awards>.
Mundell also appeared on Bloomberg Television
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_Television> many times,
mainly speaking on euro-related topics and other European financial
issues.^[37]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-37>
Mundell has also appeared on China Central Television
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Central_Television>'s popular
/Lecture Room <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecture_Room>/ series.
He was also a special guest making the ceremonial first move in Game
Five of the 2010 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand> and Veselin
Topalov <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veselin_Topalov>.^[38]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mundell#cite_note-38>
Mundell started the Pearl Spring Chess Tournament
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Spring_Chess_Tournament>, a
double round robin tournament with six players. The first tournament
in 2008 was won by the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veselin_Topalov>. The next two, in
2009 and 2010, were won by the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen>.
See also
* Redundancy problem
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_problem> - suggested by
Robert Mundell.
* List of economists <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_economists>
