Great anecdote.

Just not to leave the feeling that we were trying to break any
confidentiality - this was not the case, we know that the reports are
in Samuelsons files only because they were signed by name. Also, the
author of the reviewed articles thanked Samuelson by name in the
published version.

I repeat, Samuelson knowingly disclosed his name, due to his interest
in the subject covered in the articles.

So if anybody knows if parts of Samuelsons files are stored somewhere
else than Duke, I would be much obliged for a tip.

Best,
Stan Kwiatkowski,
Poland


On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 12:05 PM, E.Schoorl <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> On 05-10-11, Stanislaw Kwiatkowski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I'm trying to track down a couple of reports Samuelson wrote as a
> reviewer for the Journal of History of Economic Thought.
>
> I do fully agree to the serious positions on the confidentiality of
> refereeing taken by Steve and Evelyn. But there is also a lighter side to
> this. I remember - I hope essentially correct - an anecdote told by Mark
> Perlman on the question: What to do with suggestions for reviewers from
> authors? In an after-dinner conversation, most participants were fiercely
> against following-up such requests. Not so Perlman. Milton Friedman once
> asked him to have a book by Friedman junior reviewed for the JEL by A, B or
> C. A replied 'No thank you'. B said 'I'd rather stay good friends with
> Milton'. C answered 'I think it's a heap of shit'. Then Mark took the
> answers to Milton and said: Here's what your friends think. (To my
> recollection, the context is that already Mark's and Milton's parents had
> been friends.)
> Regards,
> Evert Schoorl