World Economy Lab
THE WORLD ECONOMY LABORATORY (WEL)
The World Economy Laboratory (WEL) was a research center of the MIT
Department of Economics, established in January of 1992 by Professors
Stanley Fischer and Rudi Dornbusch. When Stanley Fischer left MIT in
1995, Rudi Dornbusch took over as director, and remained in charge of
WEL until his death in 2002.
The purpose of WEL was twofold: To draw on the collective
knowledge of MIT faculty, alumni, and friends to have an informed
discussion of world economic issues, and to provide resources to
support research by young faculty, students, and visitors.
WEL was financed by a large group of associates, U.S. and foreign
corporations, governments, and individuals. Among them: General
Electric, Trans-National Research Corp., Union Bank of Switzerland,
Santander Investment, Banca d'Italia, Salomon Brothers, the Central
Bank of China, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Chase Securities, Pequot
Investments, EXOR America, ICATU, Ufficio de Cambi, GFC Partners, Korea
Institute of Research, and Merrill Lynch.
In exchange for their contributions and help, associates were
invited to conferences, received papers and commentaries, and, last but
not least, had access to Rudi Dornbusch's expertise on what was going
on around the world.
Semi-Annual Conferences
WEL typically organized two policy conferences each year, on the U.S.
and global economy. One was held in New York, the other in Washington,
DC. The summary of the last conference, held in honor of Rudi Dornbusch
on September 27, 2002.
The list of speakers who spoke at one or another conference
reads like a who's who of economics and economic policy. Among them,
Otmar Issing, Mervyn King, Arminio Fraga, Lucas Papademos, Mario
Draghi, Jose de Gregorio, Larry Summers, Takatoshi Ito, John Deutch,
Maxim Boycko, Lamberto Dini, and Laura Tyson.
WEL Research Reports
WEL working papers included congressional
testimonies, reports written by faculty for government and
international agencies, and less technical papers on applied issues
that were distributed to members on a regular basis. These papers were
less formal than the normal departmental working papers that are
destined for professional journals.
Current Commentary
Each month WEL distributed economic Columns. Professors Rudi Dornbusch,
Paul Krugman, and Paul Samuelson typically wrote at least one article a
month for Columns. Articles were also written by other faculty members
as the opportunity arose. Each issue contained three to five
commentaries on current issues pertinent to the world economy.
Special Interest Seminars or Conference Calls
Periodically, WEL conducted a seminar or conference call on a topic of
special interest, of special urgency. On such occasions, and on short
notice, WEL organized a seminar or a conference call to discuss the
issues, and clarify choices.
Turning to the second purpose of WEL: The contributions of the WEL
associates were used to finance research either by young faculty or by
students. Many students over the years were able to spend the summer
working on their research, instead of having to take a summer job in
order to finance their summer. Junior faculty members were able to buy
data, hire research assistants, something they could not have done
without the WEL funds.
In all these activities, Rudi Dornbusch played a central role. As
Stanley Fischer noted in his opening remarks at the September 2002
conference in his testimonial to Rudi, "despite and because Rudi always
said what he thought, criticizing when necessary, he spoke his mind
honestly and straightforwardly, he was always himself. He approached
policy issues by leaving irrelevancies and details on the side and
addressed the heart of the issue. He was a prodigious worker...WEL was
in itself another of his efforts to finance graduate student work."
Without Rudi, the department concluded, it did not make sense to
continue WEL. WEL was closed in November 2002.
©
2002 MIT. All rights reserved.