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June 4, 2001
STOCKHOLM,
SWEDEN
Dear Friends
and Subscribers,
We've
always arrived in Stockholm by ship, so it was nice to arrive
by plane this time. The weather was perfect. As we flew under
the clouds we could see the world like a giant jigsaw puzzle,
first the outlines of England, Scotland and Ireland, and then
Denmark, Sweden and Finland, minus the political borders,
of course. I felt like an astronaut looking down from the
space shuttle. With the airport 45 km outside Stockholm, we
landed amid lush green farms and orchards, with cows and horses
munching languidly, oblivious to the noise of the landing
jets.
Our hosts
in Sweden, Friedrich Erixon and a think tank called Timbro,
treated us with wonderful hospitality. They met us at the
airport and set us up in a charming hotel, the Riesen, in
a room overlooking the water. We were joined by several economists
for dinner at the Grand Hotel, where we ate Wallenberger,
the national dish of veal and cream (kind of a light meatloaf
in a crunchy cheese coating) and desserted on ice cream with
warm cloudberries. Knut told us that these mild yellow raspberries
grow only in northern Sweden, where he is from, and they are
harvested just one week out of the year, when there is 24-hour
daylight. His 79-year-old father still goes to pick them each
year, carrying his rifle along to ward off wolves and bears.
How romantic!
Again,
Mark's speeches were well received. He spoke to a group of
businessmen and political analysts at a luncheon meeting in
the Timbro building, followed by a speech to students at the
prestigious Stockholm School of Business. Surprisingly, few
of the students were familiar with Knut Wicksell, the most
famous Swedish economist. But they were quite familiar with
Alan Greenspan and intrigued by Mark's topic, "Should You
Trust Alan Greenspan?" One student disagreed with Mark's thesis
about the influence of interest rates on the volatility of
the economy, and had the self-confidence to engage in a prolonged
debate. It enhanced the presentation, and I think that everyone
benefited from the exchange. One attendee asked Mark if he
would come to speak at his "Gentlemen's Club" this evening,
but unfortunately we had to leave immediately for the airport.
Once again
Mark played the music he has selected to represent economists
(see the notation at the bottom of the first page of each
chapter of The Making of Modern Economics) and again
several attendees among the business group asked what music
he would select to represent himself. I suggested the old
ditty, "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover" both because
Mark has lived a charmed life with amazing good luck, and
because he has an uncanny knack for spying four-leaf clovers
(I have several pressed between the pages of books in our
home.) Later I thought of Grieg's "Night on Bald Mountain,"
but he didn't laugh when I suggested it to him... So, any
other suggestions?
No time
for sightseeing this trip, but as it is raining today, we
wouldn't have been able to see much. We'll have to save that
for another time, perhaps when we return to Stockholm to accept
Mark's Nobel Prize??
-- Jo
Ann Skousen
email: jaskousen@mskousen.com
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