It was back at the beginning of the 1990s, and I was putting together a panel on NAFTA for the ASSA meetings. This would be URPE’s big plenary at the event, and, among others, I was able to enlist Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a leader of uncommon integrity and seriousness of purpose whose victory in the 1988 Mexican presidential election was overturned through blatant fraud. I wanted someone of stature to present the case in favor of NAFTA, however, and I thought of Krueger because of his influential paper with Gene Grossman that argued for an “Environmental Kuznets Curve”. (I discovered later the paper had been financed by the Mexican government.) I sent a request to him, and he agreed to do it.
Needless to say, he faced a hostile audience. He was denounced from the floor, and there was no one in the room to defend him. I disagreed with him too, but on a human level I admired his willingness to take on this job—one for which he would receive no reward of any sort from his department, university or profession. I’ve had the experience of making similar requests to bring mainstream panelists to URPE events (something I believe in strongly), and it isn’t an easy sell. Alan took it all in stride.
I’ve subsequently leaned on him a few times for his opinion about empirical controversies I needed to address for UN-related work, and he was always prompt and helpful, a real mensch. I’m sorry to see him leave us long before his time
Jared Bernstein had a nice note as did Noah Smith (see link at DeLong’s place). But why oh why did he commit suicide?
Peter:
What was the argument against NAFTA? Keeping jobs on the continent and having local content in the product were two of the goals.
So he was responsible for advocating the policy within the Clinton administration that would destroy the jobs of tens of millions of his fellow citizens, helping to wreck whole communities and fuel and drug addiction and suicide crises that are now driving down U.S. life expectancy–then went BACK to work for the Obama administration where he no doubt was arguing for more of the same?
Sounds like a great guy. Where can I send flowers to his funeral?
And if I sound a tad angry and bitter–it is because I a FROM one of those utterly wrecked communities. Maybe hotshot Ivy League economists need to travel more in their own country to witness the devastation they have wreaked upon it.
“So he was responsible for advocating the policy within the Clinton administration that would destroy the jobs of tens of millions of his fellow citizens”.
Leave it to Karl not only to get the economics all wrong but also to spit on this man’s grave. Hey Karl – go f^&$ yourself.
Karl drank the Kool Aide. Seems to actually believe the campaign bullshit. NAFTA caused the opiod epidemic. NAFTA caused all of Karl’s problems. Utterly devastated Karl’s community. Poor fucking Karl. I weep for Karl.