2001 Fredericton Encaenia - Ceremony A
Helliwell, John F.
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.)
Orator: Patterson, Stephen E.
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 2001
JOHN F. HELLIWELL
to be Doctor of Letters
It is our pleasure to welcome Dr. John Helliwell, Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia, and one of Canada's leading economists. His visit with us is timely, coming as it does just weeks after the Quebec City Summit, where national leaders from North and South America discussed the merits of free trade while thousands of protesters warned of the risks to democracy and national sovereignty. For most of us lay people, that matter is complex and the answer elusive. For John Helliwell, the question is the proper subject of scholarly inquiry and objective measurement.
In 1998, at the invitation of the Brookings Institution of Washington, D.C., Dr. Helliwell published a book entitled How Much do National Borders Matter? It was part of a larger endeavor to examine the growing integration of national economies, a convergence driven in part by new technologies like the Internet, and in part by public policy. The questions were: what is the promise and what are the pitfalls of globalization? No economist has the whole answer, but John Helliwell's insight was to question one of the fundamental assumptions guiding most analysis. He asked, in effect, is it true that national borders are ceasing to matter? Are international economic linkages replacing national economic linkages? By studying trade between Canadian provinces, and provinces' trade with American states, he was able to show that borders still matter. Internal trade has continued to flourish despite the lowering of trade barriers between Canada and the United States. An array of economic and non-economic links among provinces preserve the sense of nation and empower provincial and federal policy¬makers who would shape our national destiny.
No study, of course, is the final answer. Indeed, in a career that has spanned four decades, John Helliwell has responded well to the constantly changing economic concerns of the day. Flexibility and vision have characterized his work from the outset. His brilliance was recognized by his undergraduate teachers at the University of British Columbia, and on graduation, he was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford. He eventually took his MA and D.Phil, at Oxford, and returned to UBC to lecture even before he had his degrees in hand. His interest was in macroeconomics, and much of his early career focused on taxation, investment, and macroeconomic modelling. He balanced his teaching at UBC with econometric research for the Bank of Canada, while publishing articles on public policy, taxation, and private investment. In 1974, however, his interests shifted. He recognized the growing importance of energy resources, and for the next fifteen years, his work focused on gas, oil, electricity, pipelines, and the tricky questions of regulation and deregulation in a constantly shifting world market. By 1990, the issue of globalization had emerged, and once again, he adapted to circumstances by responding to the pressing questions facing Canadians and their governments, and the policy choices open to them in a rapidly changing world environment.
John Helliwell's scholarly output has been prodigious. Ask Quest to search for his publications, and fifty titles appear. As it turns out, they are but a fraction of the articles, conference proceedings, books, monographs, chapters, and other works that testify to his engaged and prolific career. He has also served as managing editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics, president of the Canadian Economics Association, member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and head of the Department of Economics at UBC. For three years in the early 90s, he was W.L.Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Harvard. Since 1976 he has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and since 1987 an Officer of the Order of Canada.
It is not enough to say that John Helliwell is one of Canada's most respected economists. His career epitomizes civic consciousness. He has willingly spent his considerable talents in the service of the nation and its people. He has wrestled with questions that challenge our economic survival and our future in a world that will change whether we want it to or not. He has given a Canadian perspective to questions that transcend nationhood, and in doing so, he has gained the respect of an international community of scholars who recognize both his analytical genius and his dispassionate attachment to empirical truth. He is a public spirited citizen who is, in fact, changing our conception of citizenship. Today, it is our privilege to recognize, at the peak of his brilliant career, John Helliwell -scholar, teacher, and new-age citizen of the world.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
JOHN F. HELLIWELL
to be Doctor of Letters
It is our pleasure to welcome Dr. John Helliwell, Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia, and one of Canada's leading economists. His visit with us is timely, coming as it does just weeks after the Quebec City Summit, where national leaders from North and South America discussed the merits of free trade while thousands of protesters warned of the risks to democracy and national sovereignty. For most of us lay people, that matter is complex and the answer elusive. For John Helliwell, the question is the proper subject of scholarly inquiry and objective measurement.
In 1998, at the invitation of the Brookings Institution of Washington, D.C., Dr. Helliwell published a book entitled How Much do National Borders Matter? It was part of a larger endeavor to examine the growing integration of national economies, a convergence driven in part by new technologies like the Internet, and in part by public policy. The questions were: what is the promise and what are the pitfalls of globalization? No economist has the whole answer, but John Helliwell's insight was to question one of the fundamental assumptions guiding most analysis. He asked, in effect, is it true that national borders are ceasing to matter? Are international economic linkages replacing national economic linkages? By studying trade between Canadian provinces, and provinces' trade with American states, he was able to show that borders still matter. Internal trade has continued to flourish despite the lowering of trade barriers between Canada and the United States. An array of economic and non-economic links among provinces preserve the sense of nation and empower provincial and federal policy¬makers who would shape our national destiny.
No study, of course, is the final answer. Indeed, in a career that has spanned four decades, John Helliwell has responded well to the constantly changing economic concerns of the day. Flexibility and vision have characterized his work from the outset. His brilliance was recognized by his undergraduate teachers at the University of British Columbia, and on graduation, he was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford. He eventually took his MA and D.Phil, at Oxford, and returned to UBC to lecture even before he had his degrees in hand. His interest was in macroeconomics, and much of his early career focused on taxation, investment, and macroeconomic modelling. He balanced his teaching at UBC with econometric research for the Bank of Canada, while publishing articles on public policy, taxation, and private investment. In 1974, however, his interests shifted. He recognized the growing importance of energy resources, and for the next fifteen years, his work focused on gas, oil, electricity, pipelines, and the tricky questions of regulation and deregulation in a constantly shifting world market. By 1990, the issue of globalization had emerged, and once again, he adapted to circumstances by responding to the pressing questions facing Canadians and their governments, and the policy choices open to them in a rapidly changing world environment.
John Helliwell's scholarly output has been prodigious. Ask Quest to search for his publications, and fifty titles appear. As it turns out, they are but a fraction of the articles, conference proceedings, books, monographs, chapters, and other works that testify to his engaged and prolific career. He has also served as managing editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics, president of the Canadian Economics Association, member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and head of the Department of Economics at UBC. For three years in the early 90s, he was W.L.Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Harvard. Since 1976 he has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and since 1987 an Officer of the Order of Canada.
It is not enough to say that John Helliwell is one of Canada's most respected economists. His career epitomizes civic consciousness. He has willingly spent his considerable talents in the service of the nation and its people. He has wrestled with questions that challenge our economic survival and our future in a world that will change whether we want it to or not. He has given a Canadian perspective to questions that transcend nationhood, and in doing so, he has gained the respect of an international community of scholars who recognize both his analytical genius and his dispassionate attachment to empirical truth. He is a public spirited citizen who is, in fact, changing our conception of citizenship. Today, it is our privilege to recognize, at the peak of his brilliant career, John Helliwell -scholar, teacher, and new-age citizen of the world.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
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