Economics professor Mark Witte, who introduced Professor Dale Mortensen, quipped that if students were hoping to see the actor from Lord of the Rings or the author of Three Cups of Tea, they were in the wrong place.
Mortensen is not exactly a household name, but he is well known in his field, and a big name at Northwestern. The co-winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences spoke to an audience of more than 150 people in Harris Hall on Monday night, in a lecture sponsored by the Undergraduate Economics Society. Mortensen, who has been on the faculty at Northwestern since 1965, used to teach introductory economics, but he has taught mainly graduate courses since the 1980s. He has made many public appearances since winning the Nobel Prize last October, but this is the first time he has addressed an audience of undergraduates.
The UES was pleased to host such a giant in the field.
“It’s an exciting to hear a Nobel Laureate speak, no matter what field they are in,” said Angela Zhu, a Weinberg junior and UES co-president. “We’ve had speakers in the past, but normally in a more intimate setting. This event is much bigger.”
Mortensen delivered a modified version of his Nobel lecture on “Markets with Search Friction.” Covering a number of technical topics, his talk was replete with graphs, equations and diagrams. At first, students who came just to hear a Nobel Laureate may have been disappointed. But things opened up when Mortensen used his work to analyze contemporary economic troubles. He explained that “the press doesn’t understand the definition of the recession — it’s the falling period. What comes after is the slump.” Although he batted around potential solutions, his overall outlook was grim.
“I’m not very sanguine on what you can do,” he said. “It’s gonna be awhile before the long slump is over. I’m afraid I end on a dismal scientist’s note.”
Questioners started off asking Mortensen about the content of his lectures, but they quickly shifted to the big topic at hand — the Nobel Prize. “It’s a lightening strike that happens to you — luckily, or unluckily — but there’s little incentive effect,” said Mortensen on the award. He wistfully recalled the celebrations that took place in Stockholm at the end of last year. “The ceremony is on December 10th, because that’s the day that Alfred Nobel died. What a time for a party!”