Peter E. Kennedy (1943–2010) was a Canadian economist who taught for many years at the Simon Fraser University. His most famous work was his noted textbook, A Guide to Econometrics. In this guide, and in a subsequent summary article, he produced Ten Commandments of Applied Econometrics. These are that Thou shalt:
Use common sense and economic theory
Ask the right question
Know the context
Inspect the data
Not worship complexity
Look long and hard at thy results
Beware the costs of data mining
Be willing to compromise
Not confuse statistical significance with substance
Confess in the presence of sensitivity.
He was born in Toronto and grew up close by in Port Credit. He was educated at Queen's University, graduating in 1965, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his Ph.D. in 1968. He worked briefly at Cornell University in 1968 before moving to Simon Fraser University that same year. He remained at SFU for the next 43 years and was appointed an emeritus professor in 2008.
Selected publications
Kennedy, P. (2008). A Guide to Econometrics (6th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kennedy, P. (2010). Macroeconomic Essentials: Understanding Economics in the News (3rd ed.). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Kennedy, P. (2002). "Sinning in the Basement: What Are the Rules? The Ten Commandments of Applied Econometrics". Journal of Economic Surveys. 16 (4): 569–589. doi:10.1111/1467-6419.00179. S2CID 154717727.