What makes a great economist? A willingness to address the toughest questions in political economy, certainly, and provide answers, no matter how unpopular they might be. But playfulness also matters.

The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House After the international backlash against austerity, this is the counterblast. In defending austerity policies, Alberto ...

A decade ago, Alberto Alesina was one of the most influential economists in the world. His theory of “expansionary austerity”—the paradoxical notion that reducing public expenditure would lead to an ...

Don Aviv says that without a clear endgame to the US-Israeli war with Iran, Gulf countries will chart their own course. At first glance, reports that the US and Chinese governments are both ...

Economics professor Alberto Alesina “more or less founded the modern field of political economy,” according to Economics Department Chair Jeremy C. Stein. But as Stein tried to write a tribute to ...

Can austerity programs make economies grow? A fierce debate is going on, starting with a study by Alberto Alesina. Now, he replies to his critics. To me, Alesina sounds softer. He attacks Paul Krugman ...

Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of ...

Alberto Alesina of Harvard attends a 2015 Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers in Dresden, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) My friend Alberto Alesina, the Nathaniel Ropes professor of ...