Michele Boldrin

{{Infobox economist

| name = Michele Boldrin

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| image = Michele Boldrin.jpg

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| caption = Boldrin in 2010

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|8|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Padua, Italy

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| nationality = {{hlist|Italy|United States}}

| institution = Washington University in St. Louis

| field = Macroeconomics, general equilibrium, public policy

| alma_mater = {{plainlist}}

| doctoral_advisor = Lionel W. McKenzie

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| influences =

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| contributions = Policy functions, endogenous fluctuations and chaos in dynamic models, growth theory

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}}

Michele Boldrin ({{IPA|it|miˈkɛːle bolˈdrin|lang}}; 20 August 1956) is an Italian-born academic, former politician, YouTuber, and economist working in the areas of economic growth, business cycles, technological progress, and intellectual property. He is the Joseph Gibson Hoyt Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Along with his colleague and co-author David Levine, he was part of the group of 200 economists publicly opposing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/13376.html Economists object to Obama stimulus plan], Washington University Press Release.[http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/printable_dl_detail.lasso?id=11228&preview= SMACK! Economics scholars debate pros, cons of stimulus package] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718024114/http://dateline.ucdavis.edu/printable_dl_detail.lasso?id=11228&preview= |date=2011-07-18 }}, UC Davis News release.

Early life, education, and career

Boldrin was born and raised in Padua and later moved to Venice.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200912105230/https://economics.wustl.edu/people/Mich5ele_Boldrin Michele Boldrin, Joseph Gibson Hoyt Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences and Chair] He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Venice. He then received his M.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1987) in economics from the University of Rochester in New York under the supervision of Lionel McKenzie.{{Cite web |url=http://www.micheleboldrin.com/autobiographical.html |title=Boldrin's Autobiography |access-date=2009-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101102219/http://www.micheleboldrin.com/autobiographical.html |archive-date=2019-01-01 |url-status=dead }} Before moving to St. Louis in the Fall of 2006, he taught at University of Chicago (1986–1987), UCLA (1987–1994), Kellogg School of Management (1990–1994), Charles III University of Madrid (1994–1999), and University of Minnesota (1999–2006). He is a research fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis since 2006.

Boldrin is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a past Associate Editor of Econometrica, and past editor and current associate editor of the Review of Economic Dynamics, among other academic journals. He co-wrote four books and was a visiting professor in Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Tokyo, and a number of other places. He is affiliated with CEPR and director of FEDEA. He is one of the founding editors of the Italian blog noiseFromAmerika, and he contributes regularly to Against Monopoly and Nada es Gratis, which are respectively in English and Spanish. His two most recent books are Against Intellectual Monopoly,{{ASIN | 0521127262 }} coauthored with David K. Levine (CUP, 2008) and Tremonti, istruzioni per il disuso,{{cite web |url=http://www.noisefromamerika.org/index.php/base/tremonti |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210145142/http://www.noisefromamerika.org/index.php/base/tremonti |archive-date=2010-02-10 }} co-authored with Alberto Bisin, Sandro Brusco, Andrea Moro, and Giulio Zanella (Ancora, 2010), in Italian.

Research

Boldrin conducts ongoing research in dynamic general equilibrium theory, focusing specifically on the sources of business fluctuations, growth and development, technological innovation, and intellectual property. Collaborating with David K. Levine, Boldrin examines the role played by competitive versus monopolistic markets in growth and innovation. They posit that little evidence exists for the presence of increasing returns at the aggregate level, and thus argue that there is no reason to believe that increasing returns play an important role in actual economic growth. This implies that, in theory as in practice, competitive markets favor and promote continued growth and innovation, whereas monopoly power is not necessary and probably harmful to technological change and economic development. Their theory concludes that existing claims for the necessity of intellectual property in the process of growth and innovation are greatly exaggerated.{{Cite web|url=http://www.micheleboldrin.com/research/intellectual_property.html|title=Michele Boldrin - Intellectual Property Page|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906153920/http://www.micheleboldrin.com/research/intellectual_property.html|archive-date=6 September 2019|url-status=dead}}

Political and scientific views

Before the 2013 Italian general election, Boldrin co-founded with economist Luigi Zingales and journalist Oscar Giannino the political movement Act to Stop the Decline. Because of the poor results the party achieved in the 2014 European Parliament election, he resigned. Later on, he focused on his own YouTube channel and founded in late 2018 a think-tank called Liberi Oltre le illusioni (Free Beyond Illusions).

Boldrin has been an outspoken critic of Modern Monetary Theory, debating with American economist Warren Mosler,{{Cite web|title=Boldrin & Mosler - Debate on MMT - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7OQ-nVGQ9w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/M7OQ-nVGQ9w |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|access-date=2021-01-04|website=www.youtube.com| date=25 October 2019 }}{{cbignore}} as well as Italian journalist Paolo Barnard.{{Cite web|date=2012-11-26|title=Quei 'pazzi' dell'Mmt|url=http://espresso.repubblica.it/affari/2012/11/26/news/quei-pazzi-dell-mmt-1.48557|access-date=2021-01-04|website=l'Espresso|language=it-IT}} In his youth, he has been an Avanguardia Operaia supporter, while taking office as provincial secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation.{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.gelocal.it/nuovavenezia/archivio/nuovavenezia/2007/02/18/VM9VM_VQ101.html|title="Questa classe dirigente va spazzata via" - la Nuova di Venezia|website=Archivio - la Nuova di Venezia|date=18 February 2007 |language=it|access-date=2020-08-31}} Later on, he was a Republican Party (GOP) and Lega Nord supporter,{{Cite web|date=2017-01-17|title=Boldrin: "l'Italia non crescerà mai più, Europa e Fmi, bocciature annunciate"|url=https://www.linkiesta.it/2017/01/boldrin-litalia-non-crescera-mai-piu-europa-e-fmi-bocciature-annunciat/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Linkiesta.it|language=it-IT}} advocating for more cultural liberal positions, and later endorsed Italian civil rights activist Marco Cappato.{{cite tweet |last=Boldrin |first=Michele |author-link=Michele Boldrin |user=micheleboldrin |number=1085922182243311616 |date=2019-01-17 |title=Chi voglia dare una mano a Marco Cappato si iscriva a +Europa, via sito internet, entro domani sera. Questo richiedono i termini congressuali. Grazie. |language=it |access-date=2021-01-19}} He is critical of More Europe, the party Cappato belongs to, especially criticizing their economic plan,{{Cite web|title=Michele Boldrin|url=https://www.facebook.com/mboldrin/posts/10215009703851967|access-date=2021-01-04|website=www.facebook.com|language=en}} as well as the alliances within the party,Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/K8Ur2JI5vSI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190421035433/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Ur2JI5vSI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=K8Ur2JI5vSI&feature=emb_logo| title = Post mortem volante sul congresso di +Europa. Con Costantino De Blasi | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} and defined the members of the party as "sell-outs".{{cite tweet |last=Boldrin |first=Michele |author-link=Michele Boldrin |user=micheleboldrin |number=1130751695548493825 |date=2019-05-21 |title=@SignorErnesto @DentiRotti @ricpuglisi @itinagli @pdnetwork @CarloCalenda @BeatriceCovassi @gualtierieurope @mrctrdsh @Piu_Europa @francorobertieu @bartolopietro1 @brandobenifei @partitopirata @carlopiana Ed io ti tolgo il saluto. Non hai capito un cazzo allora. Se devi proprio sbagliare, vota PD. Almeno non son venduti. |language=it |access-date=2021-01-19}} He compared the Donald Trump-led GOP to the Italian right-wing party Lega (after the rise of Matteo Salvini), as well as to Berlusconism.{{cite web |title=Non c'e' piu' il GOP di una volta. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3VTNYSbB2k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/A3VTNYSbB2k |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|website=www.youtube.com | date=12 January 2020 |language=en}}{{cbignore}} He criticized Nassim Taleb,{{cite tweet |last=Taleb |first=Nassim |author-link=Nassim Taleb |user=nntaleb |number=1077183748356169728 |date=2018-12-24 |title=@micheleboldrin Michele Boldrin è un ciarlatano ("No #skiningthegame BS vendor"). I suoi articoli sono praticamente un gioco del sistema. https://t.co/Yb4u2EUvme |language=it |access-date=2021-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111182731/https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1077183748356169728 |archive-date=2020-11-11 |url-status=live}} as well as econophysics in general, debating with Italian geologist Francesco Sylos Labini, son of the Schumpeterian economist Paolo Sylos Labini.{{Cite web|last=Labini|first=Francesco Sylos|date=2016-05-22|title=L'economia neoclassica: una pseudoscienza. Una discussione tra Sylos Labini e Boldrin|url=https://www.roars.it/online/leconomia-neoclassica-una-pseudoscienza-una-discussione-tra-sylos-labini-e-boldrin/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=ROARS|language=it-IT}}

In September 2024, together with Alberto Forchielli, he founded a political association called Drin Drin (Ring Ring), which serves as a preliminary step towards creating a future political party.{{Cite news |title=L'economista youtuber Alberto Forchielli fonda il Movimento Drin Drin: "Tra un anno saremo un partito né di destra né di sinistra: di sopra" |last=Bettazzi |first=Marco |date=2024-09-06 |url=https://bologna.repubblica.it/cronaca/2024/09/06/news/leconomista_youtuber_alberto_forchielli_fonda_il_movimento_drin_drin_tra_un_anno_saremo_un_partito_ne_di_destra_ne_di_sin-423482119/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240906095208/https://bologna.repubblica.it/cronaca/2024/09/06/news/leconomista_youtuber_alberto_forchielli_fonda_il_movimento_drin_drin_tra_un_anno_saremo_un_partito_ne_di_destra_ne_di_sin-423482119/ |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=la Repubblica |trans-title=The Economist and YouTuber Alberto Forchielli Founds the Ring Ring Movement: “In a Year, We Will Be a Party, Neither Right nor Left—Above” |url-access=subscription |language=IT |format=}}{{Cite news |title=Boldrin e Forchielli fondano il movimento Drin Drin, entro un anno il partito: "Al centro non c'è concorrenza, Renzi va nel M5s e Calenda è bollito" |last=Sebastiani |first=Luca |date=2024-09-06 |url=https://www.ilriformista.it/boldrin-e-forchielli-fondano-il-movimento-drin-drin-entro-un-anno-il-partito-al-centro-non-ce-concorrenza-renzi-va-nel-m5s-e-calenda-e-bollito-436768/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241107152819/https://www.ilriformista.it/boldrin-e-forchielli-fondano-il-movimento-drin-drin-entro-un-anno-il-partito-al-centro-non-ce-concorrenza-renzi-va-nel-m5s-e-calenda-e-bollito-436768/ |archive-date=7 November 2024 |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=Il Riformista |trans-title=Boldrin and Forchielli Found the Ring Ring Movement, Party to Follow Within a Year: “No Competition in the Center—Renzi is Heading to M5S, and Calenda is Washed Up” |language=IT |format=}}{{Cite news |title=Boldrin e Forchielli fanno sul serio |date=2024-11-05 |url=https://pagellapolitica.it/articoli/boldrin-forchielli-drin-drin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241107151848/https://pagellapolitica.it/articoli/boldrin-forchielli-drin-drin |archive-date=7 November 2024 |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=Pagella Politica |trans-title=Boldrin and Forchielli Are Serious About the Ring Ring Movement |language=IT |format=}}