Heather Boushey on Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Robert Solow

Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor, emeritus and Professor of Economics, emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nobel Laureate in Economics, and a member of Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Steering Committee will be one of 19 individuals awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on November 24, 2014.

Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, issued the following statement:

We applaud President Barack Obama’s selection of Robert Solow as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Solow’s transformative research in the field of economics and ongoing contributions to our understanding of long-term economic growth, productivity and inequality cannot be overstated.

Even judging by contemporary standards, Solow remains a scholar ahead of his time. Few intellectuals can effectively communicate the real-world implications of theoretical economic research, but Professor Solow’s brilliance is his ability to engage with diverse audiences and at the same time influence how generations of emerging scholars participate in empirical debates. Our nation is without a doubt better equipped to deal with tough economic challenges because of Professor Solow’s theoretical contributions to the field, but above all else because of his influence as a teacher to generations of scholars and policymakers.