Long ago I studied international economics with the great Charles Kindleberger, famous not just for his insights but also for his bon mots. One line I took to heart — he was talking about the balance of payments, but it applies equally well to many subjects in economics — was that people always want a single number, but what they really need is a story.

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Economist

Made this statement about Charles Kindleberger on Twitter on October 16, 2022

I was learning that succeeding at a research institution like Penn required skills that had little to do with science. You needed the ability to sell yourself and your work.

Nobel Laureate Katalik Kariko, Biochemist

In Breaking Through, memoir of a life in science.

Research must be only part of the process of combating poverty. He argued that to translate findings into policy, there must be 'several layers of persuasion that sit on top of the evidence. The evidence is essential, but once you have the evidence, you still need the bandwidth to take it to the next layer'. Those efforts, he argued, should be directed at persuading media members and policy makers that a particular study is worth their attention.

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

At a Harvard Chan Studio Session.