Five of My Favorite Papers and the Stories Behind Them
THB Insider #19
When I decided to leave academia last year, I was 55, which was exactly the median age of U.S. tenure-track faculty. In theory, that means I’m mid-career, and in practice that seems about right! Even so, leaving academia has given me a chance to look back at my work over the past 30 years, since getting my PhD in 1994.
I set out to write a post about my five favorite papers I’ve authored or co-authored over that time. However, it turns out that I have more than five favorites! So today I am sharing five of my favorite papers, and will do another post like this down the road.
Why these five papers?
These are certainly not my most read or cited papers. I have applied two criteria — First, these papers made what I see as really novel arguments, and second, these are ones that I can still recall the intense feeling of learning and clarity while writing. That is a hard feeling to explain.
The closest thing I can compare it to is the feeling of being in “the zone” when playing a competitive sport. When asked about how one gets into “the zone,” Michael Jordan explained:
"I don't think anyone knows. I think it happens when you put forth the work ethics. You know, and then next thing you know, you are achieving what you always worked hard to get, but you can't get it without putting forth the work."
That sounds right to me. Today, I share these papers (with ungated PDFs) from the zone and and also share the inside backstory to each.
Before the jump, some quick updates:
I’ve just updated the THB Series page, where you can quickly find THB series conveniently listed for easy access;
I’ve also updated the THB For Paid Subscribers page where you can find plenty of content for paid subscribers, including PDFs of three of my books, with a new one coming soon.
Don’t forget the huge THB discounts for students and military/government.