Peter Spier - Poem- Wide And Long Deep And Strong

I knew Peter since 1965, when I matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, then to read classics. He was, I believe, already in his second year of Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Subsequently, we were both at Nuffield College, Oxford. Thereafter, we met on many occasions, as fellow economists and as friends. He was from the beginning what he was until the end, a man of exceptional warmth, kindness, decency and intelligence. His interests were extremely broad, in economics and also well beyond economics, notably including politics. He was then a very moderate sort of Tory. His connections across the world of economics were wide, his scholarship deep and, to me most important, his common sense pervasive. I am deeply shocked and upset by his passing.

It is indeed a deep shock to hear this. Peter was to me, as to so many other economists, a source of cool intelligence at conferences, with a strong and wide grasp of theory, and a sharp sense of empirical relevance. I always learnt a lot from his interventions; I remember in particular the summer macro conferences at St. Andrew's where he was a regular attender.

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Transcending the academic, intellectual, and even practical benefits of a broadly-educated citizenry, the perspectives provided by astrobiology and big history may result in positive influences over a wide range of societal and political concerns. In an earlier article (Crawford, 2018a), I argued that wider public engagement with, and knowledge of, the topics covered by astrobiology (Table 1) would lead to beneficial social and political consequences. Based on the discussion above, it seems clear that these arguments are even stronger in the case of big history, which covers much of the same ground while explicitly articulating an evolutionary perspective rooted in deep time.

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