Regular readers of this blog will know that I have an interest (but negligible talent or authority) in the history of econometrics. Actually, the same applies to the history of the discipline of statistics. I find it difficult to appreciate where we are without knowing something about where we came from, and I try to convey this to my students.
Olav Bjerkholt (University of Oslo) has provided me with a lot of very valuable material and insights in recent months, and I've been delighted to have drawn on his contributions in previous posts (e.g., here, here, and here).
Olav wrote to me yesterday, as follows:
