Three Balances and Twin Deficits: Godley versus Ruggles and Ruggles

Abstract

Wynne Godley was my colleague at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, a mentor on macroeconomics, and a co-author on one paper. Most of all, he was a dear friend. We shared many interests over the years, from peering endlessly at data to eating well and taking long walks on the beautiful grounds of Bard College. My first interaction with him was when I happened to be walking past his office and he summoned me in to look at the simulation runs of his model – which of course I found completely fascinating. Very many subsequent hours were spent doing that. Wynne had a wonderful intuitive feel for empirical patterns. He could ‘see’. Like Joan Robinson, he had a limited background in math and was therefore ‘obliged to learn how to think,’ which he did very well indeed. And he was not afraid to conclude that he had been wrong: I can remember conversations, in person or on the phone, which began with the phrase ‘Look here, I have been talking absolute nonsense.’ The subsequent discussion was often punctuated by long silences which I learned to accept with equanimity. On the other hand, where Wynne felt the error was mine, he was far more polite. This chapter is a small tribute to his memory, in partial thanks for the many things I learned from him.