Jan Tinbergen is one of the founding fathers ofeconometrics, publishing in the field from 1927until the early 1950s. This was the frontier age ofeconometrics when the distinction betweenmathematical economics and econometrics, let alonebetween theoretical and applied econometrics, didnot yet exist. Tinbergen's approach to economics hasalways been a practical one. This was highlyappropriate for the new field of econometrics, andenabled him to make important contributions toconceptual and theoretical issues, but always in thecontext of a relevant economic problem. Thedevelopment of the first macroeconometric models,the solution of the identification problem, and theunderstanding of dynamic models are perhaps histhree most important legacies to econometrics.Tinbergen was awarded the first Nobel Memorial Prizein economics in 1969 (jointly with Ragnar Frisch)for his contributions to econometrics.
Tinbergen's desire to communicate his ideas to othersis matched by a talent for clear and direct writing.This gives his econometric work great appeal and anapparent simplicity which should not beunderestimated. This talent was also fruitfullyapplied to the development of pedagogical tools forteaching econometrics to his students.
Since the early 1950s Tinbergen's interests have movedon and he has made notable contributions to suchdiverse fields as the theory of economic policy,development planning, and income distribution.Tinbergen's political and pacifist views have alwaysbeen an important element in his economics, andeven, as this interview shows, his econometrics. Hisoverriding aim has been to improve the welfare ofthe less fortunate in this world.
It is now 60 years since Tinbergen's first article ineconomics appeared, yet he shows no signs ofretiring. We met him on May 27, 1986, in the studyof his house in The Hague, where he has lived formost of his working life and which bears thehallmarks of continued study and writing. Most ofthe discussion during the afternoon concerned hiseconometric work published in the 1930s and 1940s.He gave us his views of those earlydevelopments—both what he thought then and how hesees them now. What follows is an edited transcriptof the conversation. We hope that this interviewwill bring alive to the readers of the 1980s theissues and difficulties faced by econometricians inthe 1930s, as well as Tinbergen's characteristicresponse to those problems. One of Tinbergen'sattributes is a considerable modesty about his ownachievements; the reader should bear this in mindwhen reading his remarks.