The Economist Who Showed Growth Requires Risk: Allison Schrager

One day years ago, when I was a young graduate student who didn’t appear to have much promise or potential, Edmund Phelps invited me to his office to discuss the economy. Over the next few years, we would meet every few weeks, often with other prominent colleagues he had asked to join. Not only were these meetings critical to my career as an economist, but they also became the foundation of my understanding of the macroeconomy.

Phelps, who died last week at the age of 92, was among the last economists who viewed growth for what it is: necessary but ...