Autobiographical accounts by Nobel laureates reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary economic thought and offer insights into the creative process; with six new laureates. Lives of the Laureates offers readers an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical essays by thirty-two Nobel Prize laureates in economics. The essays not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. The accounts are accessible and engaging, achieving clarity without sacrificing inherently difficult content. This seventh edition adds six Nobelists to its pages: Roger B. Myerson (co-recipient in 2007) describes his evolution as a game theorist and his application of game theory to issues that ranged from electoral systems to perverse incentives; Thomas J. Sargent (co-recipient in 2011), recounts the development of the rational expectations model, which fundamentally changed the policy implications for macroeconomic models; Amartya Sen (recipient in 1998) reflects on his use of a bicycle (later donated to the Nobel Museum) to collect data early in his career; A. Michael Spence (co-recipient in 2001) describes, among other things, his whiplash-inducing first foray into teaching an undergraduate class; Christopher A. Sims (co-recipient in 2011) discusses his “non-Nobel” research; and Alvin E. Roth (co-recipient in 2012) chronicles the “three insurrections” he has witnessed in mainstream economics. Lives of the Laureates grows out of a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, which invites Nobelists from American universities to describe their evolution as economists in personal as well as technical terms. The Laureates W. Arthur Lewis, Lawrence R. Klein, Kenneth J. Arrow, Paul A. Samuelson, Milton Friedman, George J. Stigler, James Tobin, Franco Modigliani, James M. Buchanan, Robert M. Solow, William F. Sharpe, Ronald H. Coase, Douglass C. North, John C. Harsanyi, Myron S. Scholes, Gary S. Becker, Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Vernon L. Smith, Clive W. J. Granger, Edward C. Prescott, Thomas C. Schelling, Edmund S. Phelps, Eric S. Maskin, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Peter A. Diamond, Roger B. Myerson, Thomas J. Sargent, Amartya Sen, A. Michael Spence, Christopher A. Sims, Alvin E. Roth

Autobiographical accounts by Nobel laureates reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary economic thought and offer insights into the creative process; with six new laureates. Lives of the Laureates offers readers an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical essays by thirty-two Nobel Prize laureates in economics. The essays not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. The accounts are accessible and engaging, achieving clarity without sacrificing inherently difficult content. This seventh edition adds six Nobelists to its pages: Roger B. Myerson (co-recipient in 2007) describes his evolution as a game theorist and his application of game theory to issues that ranged from electoral systems to perverse incentives; Thomas J. Sargent (co-recipient in 2011), recounts the development of the rational expectations model, which fundamentally changed the policy implications for macroeconomic models; Amartya Sen (recipient in 1998) reflects on his use of a bicycle (later donated to the Nobel Museum) to collect data early in his career; A. Michael Spence (co-recipient in 2001) describes, among other things, his whiplash-inducing first foray into teaching an undergraduate class; Christopher A. Sims (co-recipient in 2011) discusses his “non-Nobel” research; and Alvin E. Roth (co-recipient in 2012) chronicles the “three insurrections” he has witnessed in mainstream economics. Lives of the Laureates grows out of a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, which invites Nobelists from American universities to describe their evolution as economists in personal as well as technical terms. The Laureates W. Arthur Lewis, Lawrence R. Klein, Kenneth J. Arrow, Paul A. Samuelson, Milton Friedman, George J. Stigler, James Tobin, Franco Modigliani, James M. Buchanan, Robert M. Solow, William F. Sharpe, Ronald H. Coase, Douglass C. North, John C. Harsanyi, Myron S. Scholes, Gary S. Becker, Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Vernon L. Smith, Clive W. J. Granger, Edward C. Prescott, Thomas C. Schelling, Edmund S. Phelps, Eric S. Maskin, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Peter A. Diamond, Roger B. Myerson, Thomas J. Sargent, Amartya Sen, A. Michael Spence, Christopher A. Sims, Alvin E. Roth

Part of a series which provides autobiographical studies by individuals who are among contemporary leaders in the management discipline. Essays explore their experiences, and the factors and forces influencing their professional and personal development. Bibliographies of their work are included.

Autobiographical accounts by Nobel laureates reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary economic thought and offer insights into the creative process. Lives of the Laureates offers readers an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical essays by twenty-three Nobel Prize laureates in Economics. The essays not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. The accounts are accessible and engaging, achieving clarity without sacrificing inherently difficult content. This sixth edition adds four recent Nobelists to its pages: Eric Maskin, who illustrates his explanation of mechanism design with an example involving a mother, a cake, and two children; Joseph Stiglitz, who recounts his field's ideological wars linked to policy disputes; Paul Krugman, who describes the insights he gained from studying the model of the Capitol Hill Babysitting Coop (and the recession it suffered when more people wanted to accumulate babysitting coupons than redeem them); and Peter Diamond, who maps his development from student to teacher to policy analyst. Lives of the Laureates grows out of a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, which invites Nobelists from American universities to describe their evolution as economists in personal as well as technical terms. These lectures demonstrate the richness and diversity of contemporary economic thought. The reader will find that paths cross in unexpected ways—that disparate thinkers were often influenced by the same teachers—and that luck as well as hard work plays a role in the process of scientific discovery. The Laureates Lawrence R. Klein • Kenneth J. Arrow • Paul A. Samuelson • Milton Friedman • George J. Stigler • James Tobin • Franco Modigliani • James M. Buchanan • Robert M. Solow • William F. Sharpe • Douglass C. North • Myron S. Scholes • Gary S. Becker • Robert E. Lucas, Jr. • James J. Heckman • Vernon L. Smith • Edward C. Prescott • Thomas C. Schelling • Edmund S. Phelps • Eric S. Maskin • Joseph E. Stiglitz • Paul Krugman • Peter A. Diamond

Discusses the Nobel Institution in detail, telling about the award and its beginnings, what it means to win a Nobel Prize, the fields in which it is presented, who judges and how the prize is awarded, and more.

"Guide to further reading": pages 307-312.

The bestselling classic that examines the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to Karl Marx—“all the economic lore most general readers conceivably could want to know, served up with a flourish” (The New York Times). The Worldly Philosophers not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas—namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines. In a bold new concluding chapter entitled “The End of the Worldly Philosophy?” Heilbroner reminds us that the word “end” refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today’s increasingly “scientific” economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

Witty, incisive observations on such universally meaningful topics as courage and compassion by many of the greatest minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been the hallmark of genius, but Nobel laureates tend to be more than merely brilliant-their idealism, courage, and concern for humanity have also made them sources of inspiration and wisdom. Contrary to the notion that geniuses are absentminded eccentrics who lead solitary lives, many Nobel laureates have been social activists and political leaders, and some have been polymaths whose interests and talents were diverse, such as Philip Noel-Baker, winner of the 1959 Peace prize, who ran in three Olympic Games. Most of the quotations have never been anthologized previously. There is a section of short biographical sketches of each of the roughly 250 laureates quoted in the book, a brief history of the Nobel Prize, and a complete list of every Nobel laureate through 2006. The Impossible Takes Longer is a remarkable assemblage of insightful, thought-provoking, sometimes humorous statements by some of the world's wisest men and women.

The 60th anniversary edition of this classic and unrivalled optics reference work includes a special foreword by Sir Peter Knight.