Angus Deaton of Princeton University was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics “for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday.
“To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices,” the academy said. “More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding. By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, his research has helped transform the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics.”
The recognition the prize carries has helped previous winners bring their economic theories closer to policy making. Past laureates include Milton Friedman, James Tobin, Paul Krugman and Friedrich August von Hayek.
Last year’s award went to Frenchman Jean Tirole of the University of Toulouse for his work on how governments can regulate industries from banking to telecommunications.
Annual prizes for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace and literature were established in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896.
The prize in economic sciences was added by Sweden’s central bank in 1968. The total amount for each of the 2015 prizes is 8 million kronor ($977,000).
- Bloomberg
