Chapter 22: 301-303

In 1988, Robert Solow was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with growth models. While many people were excited for him, others were not. Joe Stiglitz, whose model Solow used, complained heavily that he and others had done work similar to Solow, yet their research was ignored. Stiglitz, and other economists like Sheshinski, Akerlof, and Nordhaus came to be known as the “lost patrol” because the top economists at that time ignored their work concerning the growth of knowledge in formal models. And while the “lost patrol” was resentful of Solow at times, George Akerlof often reminded them of Solow’s keen vision regarding models and economics in general. Solow may have had his critics, but no one could deny his brilliance and his far reaching influence.