Dartblog

Ever the diplomat, at least when he wants to be, Economics Professor Danny Blanchflower filed a report on Bloomberg about Jim Kim’s transition to his likely new job. Bloomberg’s host asked Blanchflower about the view from Hanover on Kim’s administrative abilities. His response:

That’s come in for some criticism amongst people at the campus — perhaps that his mind was on other things. He clearly was interested in global issues. Maybe they felt they wanted more of him… Maybe the way to think of this is that perhaps the consternation at Dartmouth suggests that this, being nominated as President of the World Bank, is perhaps a better match for him than being President of Dartmouth.

Blanchflower is the only person at Dartmouth to receive anywhere near the media attention that the hazing controversy has elicited over the last couple of months. He seems to be keeping pretty good company at Bloomberg News, where he is now introduced as a Contributing Editor, an Adviser to the Boston Fed, and a Professor at a small college in New Hampshire. He also writes the Economics column each Monday for The Independent newspaper, one of the UK’s leading dailies, and a bi-weekly piece in the New Statesman.

In a another report on Bloomberg, Danny praised Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, whom he labels “a modern man” for his efforts to project a warmer, more personal image, and make the Fed seem more transparent. Danny noted that Bernanke is tweeting, putting up a page on YouTube, and that he will soon conduct four classroom sessions at George Washington University with former Dartmouth Economics Professor Maria Lusardi, who decamped for the GW School of Business last year.