Brooks on endogenous growth

David Brooks provides a nice summary of "new" growth theory and the macroeconomics of innovation in his column, drawing from Paul Romer's work as well as several others. Romer's quote on the trend in the average age of NIH grantees, now 50 instead of 35 in earlier periods, was interesting.

A 2006 article in Science by the NIH Directory Elias Zerhouni implicitly pointed out another trend, in addition to the rising age at which scientists receive a first independent NIH award. The average age at starting a tenure-track faculty position was 38 in the data he examined, surely higher than in earlier periods. Lengthier training periods might explain part of the increase in average grantee age.

Nobel laureates on women in academia

Two of the three winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine this year, Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, urged changes in academic career structures that fit the changing realities of women's work and family needs. My favorite quote, which I think is absolutely right: "You can do really good research when you are doing it part-time."