Bill Phillips
This is great news. Bill Phillips was a New Zealand-born genius. He devised not only the Moniac, an amazing water-based analogue computer but also, as all economics students will know, the mega-influential Phillips curve.
Fun fact 1: a very famous New Zealander – you’ve heard of him; he’s often on the front page of the newspaper and seen on the TV news; he’s in these links – has written a novel about Phillips and how he invented his machine. It hasn’t been published yet, but it should be. I’ve read it and it’s really, really good. It’s the only novel I know of that makes both economics and economists exciting. Not sexy, that’s too big an ask, but definitely exciting.
Fun fact 2: one of the few Moniacs ever built was part of New Zealand’s exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 2003 – all the more reason why there should be one on permanent display at Te Papa.
Phillips is further honoured here.
Fun fact 1: a very famous New Zealander – you’ve heard of him; he’s often on the front page of the newspaper and seen on the TV news; he’s in these links – has written a novel about Phillips and how he invented his machine. It hasn’t been published yet, but it should be. I’ve read it and it’s really, really good. It’s the only novel I know of that makes both economics and economists exciting. Not sexy, that’s too big an ask, but definitely exciting.
Fun fact 2: one of the few Moniacs ever built was part of New Zealand’s exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 2003 – all the more reason why there should be one on permanent display at Te Papa.
Phillips is further honoured here.
posted by Stephen Stratford at 10:37 PM
2 Comments:
A clearly-recognisable Moniac plays an important role in Terry Pratchett's Making Money.
My glee at figuring this out was somewhat spoiled when I realised there was an author's note in the endpapers explaining it.
Would Bollard be the author? I thought he already had a job.
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