New Zealand’s “sexiest” economists?

I see that Durex has been asking people who the sexiest politicians are.  Now I don’t really care about politics – but I really care about New Zealand economics!  So I decided to grab a bunch of photos of economists who I see in the public eye a lot, and let the half dozen readers of TVHE decide who deserves the title of New Zealand’s hottest economist.

I will include an other option on the poll, and if you do click other I would love it if you put their name down in comments! It is entirely possible I have missed people, as I am exceedingly incompetent.

I have also stuck to economists that are in the public eye incessantly, there are a lot of economists you may think are hotter who aren’t talking in public a lot – but they are excluded at this point.  Also, if you are bitterly mean about how any of the economist look I’m going to do a rare thing, break my own personal rule, and censor your comment – economists are my idols, and this blog is my place of worship 😉

Who is NZ's hottest Economist?

  • Darren Gibbs (24%, 97 Votes)
  • Donna Purdue (22%, 91 Votes)
  • Eric Crampton (8%, 33 Votes)
  • Shamubeel Eaqub (7%, 28 Votes)
  • Gareth Kiernan (6%, 25 Votes)
  • Oliver Hartwich (5%, 21 Votes)
  • Other (4%, 18 Votes)
  • Bill Rosenberg (3%, 14 Votes)
  • Nick Tuffley (3%, 13 Votes)
  • Jean-Pierre de Raad (3%, 13 Votes)
  • Graeme Wheeler (3%, 13 Votes)
  • Tony Alexander (3%, 12 Votes)
  • Stephen Toplis (1%, 6 Votes)
  • Ganesh Nana (1%, 6 Votes)
  • Gareth Morgan (1%, 6 Votes)
  • Cameron Bagrie (1%, 5 Votes)
  • Dominick Stephens (1%, 3 Votes)
  • Gabriel Makhlouf (1%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 407

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Note:  Will close Friday 22 March, at midday in NZ.

If you need photos, come with me as I explore google trying to find professional photos.  If you can find better photos, throw them in the comments and I will update!

 

44 replies
    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      As I said, publically facing economists – just because you have a man/economics crush on me doesn’t justify inclusion. Although your man/economic crush is much appreciated and reciprocated.

      • detmackey
        detmackey says:

        Heard you on Radio NZ the other week. From those mug shots, perhaps that’s where all economists should remain.

        • Matt Nolan
          Matt Nolan says:

          I think NZ is pretty lucky with how hot it’s economists are – I only ended up doing the post because I thought everyone’s pics were pretty damn good, everyone looks respectable to me there. The voting is tongue and cheek, but these guys are a bunch of pretty awesome public figures that I’m really glad we have around!

          Now my pic isn’t up there as I have nothing to do with anything – and in any case I suit hiding behind blocks of text and radio waves significantly more 😉

  1. billbennett
    billbennett says:

    Surely this playing field is tilted in Ms Purdue’s favour? Or is that kind of statistical consideration not important in modern economics? 🙂

  2. chris
    chris says:

    Where are all the girls? Jane Turner, Anne Mahon and Sharon Zollner all have a reasonable public profile.

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Fair call, there are a lot of people with reasonable significant profiles missing. The kicker was that I didn’t want more than one person per organisation (with a focus on the obviously “main” person for each organisation) – although I felt compelled to violate this rule for NZIER and BNZ.

      This is also the reason for the other category – I felt that if that became sufficient popular, and people were screaming out for specific people in comments, then I would add them.

      I have no doubt more people will be added in time – and I realise this does bias my data – but this just seemed like the most intuitive way to start.

    • Helen
      Helen says:

      Hey – what’s this about Larry and the strangers????? Does Tony with his gorgeous smile do more than work …

  3. belgian.quant@gmail.com
    belgian.quant@gmail.com says:

    Why is BNZ’s Craig Ebert not on the list? That guy is a sharp fellow, and a spiffy dresser to boot. Vote Ebert.

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Trust me, he was someone I really wanted to put on – the only reason I didn’t was because I already had two BNZ guys, and I didn’t want to over-represent any institution. Glad to see you representing team Ebert!

  4. Paul H
    Paul H says:

    From looking at the mugshots, I now know where Peter Jackson sourced actors for the “Orcs” in his movies.

      • Paul H
        Paul H says:

        Fair enough. Your blog, your rules. I would imagine, however, that were this a beauty competition among Australian economists, everyone would be cheerfully and amusingly sledging each other in comments, with no hard feelings at the end of the day. Kiwis, it seems, are rather more sensitive creatures.
        Anyway, this is an interesting econblog, even for those of us on the other side of the Tasman. Cheers.

        • Matt Nolan
          Matt Nolan says:

          I do not know all of these guys personally, so I just want to avoid too much negativity – as it is easier to have it misinterpreted.

          Now if any such comment had been about me I would have upvoted it – and I’m sure in person a lot of these dudes would be the same way 😉

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Very good – she is already an option on the poll though. Of course, there is nothing wrong with publically stating your view on this important matter!

  5. Nathaniel Robson
    Nathaniel Robson says:

    I like this idea! But how will you account for the bias introduced by making interim results available? Surely there is a hysteresis effect? E.g. ‘hmm how can I choose between all these handsome devils (and Donna who is not handsome but nevertheless very good looking)? Oh lets see what others have said … Darren Gibbs eh? Well, looking again at his photo I must admit he does have a strong chin and steely gaze . so I’ll vote for him too!’ Also, if anyone wanted to make sure their favourite beautiful economist wins the crown, they could organise a sufficiently large group to vote just before voting closes.

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      This is also very true. And there is no way this will give us an idea of the true social ranking of economists – I haven’t forgotten arrow’s impossibility theorm yet!

      We will see what happens. Poll is closed midday tomorrow – and I will have a write up on Monday. Hopefully I can find a way to do an interview with the winner!

  6. Stu Donovan
    Stu Donovan says:

    Geoff Cooper, Chief Economist at Auckland Council, is a notable omission. He’d definitely win the “sexiest spatial economist ” sub-category.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] And it seems this applies to New Zealand economists as well with a massive 407 votes cast in the “New Zealand’s sexiest economist poll”.  This was especially impressive as voting was via IP address, meaning that many large […]

  2. […] See full story on tvhe.co.nz […]

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