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<p>Faculty websites are not necessarily exhaustive. And, in fact, many of Schelling’s books are collections of articles which had previously been published, often many years before. As I said, an economist’s reputation rests primarily on his articles, not on his books. </p>
<p>At any rate, I think it’s presumptuous to conclude on the basis of his books’ publication dates that UM was just “resume padding.” He is a very creative thinker and a great communicator and he has a reputation for generously contributing his ideas and input to his colleagues’ work. </p>
<p>He was far from a “sure thing” for a Nobel Prize in 1990, when he went to Maryland. His work is brilliant, but it’s quite different from the sort of thing that generally wins an economics Nobel prize. It’s remarkably readable, even by laymen. There’s amazingly clever insights and logical thought, but none of the usual morass of mathematical formulae one typically finds in Nobel prize-winning economics. </p>
<p>I’m glad the Nobel econ committee recognized his work, but it was far from a sure thing, especially back in 1990. So, resume-padding on UM’s part seems like an unfair charge.</p>