Page 98 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

I shall remember him by the many small incidents I shared with him during the time I was
privileged to have him as a friend. Here are a few:

His comments on papers he was assigned to discuss were to the point; he took his job
seriously. They were constructive; it was the sympathetic teacher in him. And if you had forgotten
your macroeconomics (as I had), his observations proved to be a refresher course presented in
his inimitable style. In short, when Bhanupong spoke, others listened.

He only had kind words to say when I commented on any paper. He always said that he learnt
something from my comments and referred to me as a “wise man”. My take on this is that his
kindness clouded his judgment. One time, I commented on a paper that used regressions extensively.
I had remarked to the authors that the signs, significance, and magnitudes of the coefficients are

all deserving of interpretation. The observation was an elementary one but Bhanupong surprised
me by congratulating me afterwards on making the point. “Professional economists often forget
the basics,” he told me. “Good that you reminded them of the first principles.”
Outside of the conference setting, we always had fun. His ability to find humor in small

things and events delighted me. One time, on the last night of our stay in Tokyo, he and I (along
with a few others I suspect) were told to relocate from the hotel we were staying in to another
hotel some distance away. AEP had agreed to surrender a few rooms to accommodate some VIPs
gathering for another meeting and we were “selected” for the honor on account of our “youthful”

looks that were misinterpreted to reflect our age! Bhanupong and I set out from the new hotel,
located in a cheaper neighborhood, looking for a reasonable place to have our dinner. He knew
no Japanese and I was no better but he offered to lead. We drifted into a narrow street and entered
a small outlet that had nice-looking pictures of food with very attractive (meaning cheap) prices.

It was also quite empty. The food came, a far cry from the pictures that tempted us, and the taste
matched the low price. We ate slowly contemplating our fate but a valuable lesson was ingested
that night: Never be lured by attractive pictures and cheap prices when it comes to food, especially
in Tokyo.

On another occasion, after a long day at an AEP session in Tokyo in 2017, we volunteered
to accompany Debra Steubing (Production editor of our Journal Asian Economic Papers) to walk
around to look for gifts for her children. Laughing and joking, we took every twist and turn that
came our way before realizing we were hopelessly lost. I cannot recall if Debra bought anything

but we had a hard time finding our way back to the hotel. When we finally did, some hours later,
Debra was gracious enough to thank us and took her leave. “Why is she thanking us?” I asked
Bhanuphong, in amusement. “For giving her an extended tour of Tokyo,” he replied, with a
mischievous smile!

On returning to the US, Debra sent us a picture with the following note: “This is the worst
picture of me, but I’m happy to have this fun picture with the two of you! Two best people to
get lost with, in Tokyo!” To which I replied, “I was just thinking about this and a funny thought

98 A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory