Rogoff Receives Prize for Research

Economics Professor Kenneth S. Rogoff received the Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics last Thursday for his contributions to the field of international finance and macroeconomics.

The prize is awarded biannually by the Center for Financial Studies in partnership with Goethe University Frankfurt, and carries an endowment of 50,000 euros.

“He’s an incredibly well-established, well-respected researcher, in the field of international finance particularly,” Economics Department Chair John Y. Campbell said. Rogoff’s work focuses on optimal monetary policy, exchange rates, and sovereign debt.

“He is an excellent theorist, but he has had a long-standing interest in empirical work. He tries to keep at least one foot on the ground when he is writing about economic issues,” Economics Professor Richard N. Cooper said.

Rogoff said the prize was a “huge honor” in an e-mailed statement, adding that he follows three “extraordinary” recipients. Eugene F. Fama, Michael D. Woodford, and Robert J. Shiller have also received the biannual award since it was established in 2005.

Rogoff, who is on leave for the current academic year, normally teaches Ec 1545: “International Financial and Macroeconomic Policy,” as well as a first-year graduate macroeconomics class. Last year, he also taught a freshman seminar entitled “Dealing with the Global Financial Crisis.”

“He is the nicest guy; he is so warm,” said Zachary M. Goldstein ’13, who took Rogoff’s freshman seminar. “He was always very friendly and very open, and it was a very wonderful experience.”

Last month, Rogoff’s best-selling 2009 book “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly” won the fifteenth annual TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security.

Rogoff’s analysis of financial crises was co-written with Carmen M. Reinhart, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C.

“In many ways, Ken Rogoff is the man of the hour with this book,” Campbell said.

In this week’s issue of “The Economist,” Rogoff tied for second in a poll asking, “Which economist has the most important ideas in a post-crisis world?”

—Staff writer Julia L. Ryan can be reached at jryan@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Kevin J. Wu can be reached at kwu@college.harvard.edu.