New Books in Economics cover image

Alan Bollard, "Economists at War: How a Handful of Economists Helped Win and Lose the World Wars" (Oxford UP, 2020)

New Books in Economics

00:00

The Great Ghost of Stalin

Kantoar Vich was a genius as well, a mathematician who did a lot of economics. But he knew if he stood, if he was out of line, then the great ghost of Stalin was hanging over all the economists at that time. The story picks up when he's out actually on the ice during the siege of Leningred. He gets off it and goes back to mathematics, which is safer. Later on, after the war, he gets a Nobel Prize for doing that. And other things that he also gets pushed into, including the helping with the Soviet heaven bomb.

Transcript
Play full episode

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app