A short comment on the JE Open forum essays

摘要

The past century has seen great developments in the use of mathematical and statistical methods in the analysis and comprehension of economic phenomena. The range of areas in which econometric methods are successfully applied, has steadily widened including more and more behavioral sciences like sociology, political science, psychology and business management, and this has in turn led to many theoretical advances in this field. In my opinion this is one of the most important achievements of this new science, which makes one hopeful of the future of this science and look forward to another very exciting century. Eminent econometricians have presented their expert views in this collection of essays and have discussed a broad spectrum of research topics. Though there is little more to add tO their statements and conclusions, I would like to highlight and give further emphasis on two of these directions in particular. I will mainly refer to the essays of Engle, Bollerslev, Tauchen, Granger and Phillips. I will not go into the technical aspects for want of space and will also limit references outside this collection for the same reasons.