News Brief No. 02/77

News Brief: Statement by Kenneth Rogoff on the Death of Rudiger Dornbusch

July 26, 2002

Kenneth Rogoff, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department of the IMF, made the following statement on the death, on July 25, of Professor Rudiger Dornbusch:

"With the passing of Professor Rudi Dornbusch, we have all—in the economics profession and particularly at the IMF—suffered an incalculable loss. To simply say that he was one of the great economists of our time is not enough. His justly celebrated "overshooting" paper is, indeed, arguably the most influential article written in the field of international economics since World War II. His policy ideas on how to better manage debt crises had a crispness and originality unlike any other's. But what his many students and followers throughout the world loved most was Dornbusch the man, full of vitality, creativity, sharpness, humor, and deep personal warmth. As a path-breaking scholar, as a beloved teacher, and as a cogent policy advisor to many countries, Rudiger Dornbusch lived one of the great lives in economics."

For a recent tribute by Kenneth Rogoff to Rudiger Dornbusch, see "Dornbusch's Overshooting Model After Twenty-Five Years" http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=15653.0.