U.S. economist Richard Thaler wins the 2017 Nobel Economics Prize
U.S. economist Richard Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Economics Prize for his
contributions in the field of behavioral economics, showing how human traits
affect supposedly rational markets, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said
on Monday.
Thaler brought to prominence the idea of "nudge" economics, where humans are
subtly guided toward beneficial behaviors without heavy-handed compulsion, the
theme of a 2008 book he co-wrote which caught the eye of policymakers around the
world.
In his award citation, the Academy said his research had harnessed
psychologically realistic assumptions in analyzes of economic decision-making,
exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack
of self-control.
"In total, Richard Thaler's contributions have built a bridge between the
economic and psychological analyzes of individual decision-making," the
award-giving body said on announcing the 9 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million)
prize.
"His empirical findings and theoretical insights have been instrumental in
creating the new and rapidly expanding field of behavioral economics, which has
had a profound impact on many areas of economic research and policy."
The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968. It was not
part of the original group of awards set out in dynamite tycoon Nobel's 1895
will.
Economy is the last of this year's Nobels. The prizes for physiology or
medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were all awarded last
week.
The United States has dominated the economics prize, with American economists
accounting for roughly half of laureates since the inception of the award.
Indeed, between 2000 and 2013, U.S. academics won or shared the prize every
year.
While few economists are household names, past winners have included Milton
Friedman, in 1976, whose work is a cornerstone of current monetary policy, and
James Tobin, in 1981, who proposed countries should tax financial
transactions.
Some countries in the European Union agreed on such a tax to help fight the
debt crisis, but implementation has been delayed, among other things by
Britain's decision to leave the bloc.
Source: Reuters
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