CYPRUS had every right to be happy that one of its own, Professor Christophoros Pissarides, had been awarded the Nobel Prize for economics. It was no exaggeration to say that Pissarides made us all proud because it is very rare for a country with a population of less than a million to produce a Nobel Prize winner. Every country needs one of its children to make it feel proud occasionally and we are grateful to him for giving us this small pleasure in these difficult times.
A professor at the London School of Economics where he has been since 1976, Pissarides is a distinguished economist whose book Equilibrium Unemployment Theory is a standard reference in the study of the macroeconomics of unemployment. His most influential paper is said to be “Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment”, which he co-wrote with Professor Dale Mortensen, who shared the 2010 Nobel Prize with him and Professor Peter Diamond.
In Cyprus, where economic policy is still dictated by clueless union bosses, there was even talk about securing the services of Pissarides. The CyBC yesterday quoted official sources as saying that the new Nobel Laureate could help us address the unemployment problem we are facing. Several commentators lamented the fact that the previous government had considered appointing him Governor of the Central Bank but decided against it, giving the job instead to Athanasios Orphanides. Pissarides graciously said yesterday that the current Governor was better suited for the post than he was.
Since last May, Pissarides held the chair of European Studies at the Cyprus University and was scheduled to move here in January. His plans may change now that he has joined a very exclusive academic club, as he will be in demand all over the world. Whatever he decides to do, we wish him well and thank him for giving us a rare opportunity to feel proud of one of our countrymen.
In Nicosia, the car is king… Pheidippides would be ashamed
NICOSIA’S first-ever marathon was hailed as a big success by the organisers. The fact that more than 5,000 people of all ages took part constituted a remarkable success, but the restrictions imposed by the police marred the event. In the end, all participants had to run a half-marathon because the police, for reasons that remain unclear, refused to close the city centre’s roads. Ironically, this decision did not help traffic flow, with big tailbacks forming on the southeastern approach to the capital. We hope the police command would have drawn the right lessons and next year it would have no qualms about closing the city centre for a few hours, so that a full marathon could be run.
