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Lawrence Klein, Nobel Prize-winning economist and Prebisch lecturer, passes away

25 October 2013

Lawrence Klein, who won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Economics, and gave the thirteenth Raúl Prebisch Lecture at UNCTAD in 2005, has passed away at the age of 93.

 
Lawrence Klein
Prof. Klein gave the 13th Raúl Prebisch Lecture at UNCTAD in November 2005

Professor Klein was born in the United States on 14 September 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. He taught for many years at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

After joining the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1958, he developed what came to be called the "Wharton models" of econometrics. These ultimately earned him the Nobel Prize in 1980. Professor Klein was a pioneer in the construction and use of structural macroeconomic models for forecasting and policy analysis.

He established Project LINK, which served as a global framework for bringing together national economic models in a consistent manner. This framework is the basis of the United Nations' global economic forecasting.

In 2005, Professor Klein delivered the thirteenth Raúl Prebisch Lecture, named for UNCTAD's first Secretary-General. The title of his presentation was South and East Asia: Leading the world economy.

He noted in his speech, "A new Asian miracle has appeared: the central characters are BRIC members, China and India."

He went on to say, "Other economies of South-East Asia and North-East Asia are also performing well in the economic sphere, after the crisis of 1997-1998, and it is likely that they may be able to realize the gains that Raúl Prebisch dreamed about for the periphery, which may be extended eventually to Latin America. As for well-endowed West Asia or North Africa, if those countries manage their natural resources well, they too will find a sustained better economic life."