Richard Thaler of US wins Nobel Economics Prize

Stockholm - US economist Richard Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Economics Prize for his contributions in the field of behavioural 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 behaviours 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 analyses 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 analyses of individual decision-making," the award-giving body said on announcing the 9 million Swedish crown (US$1.1 million) prize."His empirical findings and theoretical insights have been instrumental in creating the new and rapidly expanding field of behavioural economics, which has had a profound impact on many areas of economic research and policy."‘Pleased’Thaler (72) told the Nobel committee by videoconference he was "pleased" by the award."Well, I was pleased. I no longer will have to call my colleague Eugene Fama ‘Professor Fama’ on the golf course," he joked, referring to his University of Chicago colleague who won the 2013 Nobel Economics Prize.He is a professor at the University of Chicago - a school popular with the Nobel economics committee. Of 79 laureates so far, more than a third have been affiliated with the university's school of economics.Thaler made a cameo appearance in the 2015 movie "The Big Short" about the credit and housing bubble collapse that led to the 2008 global financial crisis.The economics prize is unique among the Nobel awards in that it was created by the Swedish central bank in 1968 - the others were all set up through the 1895 will of Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.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, US 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. – Nampa/Reuters/AFP

Richard Thaler of US wins Nobel Economics Prize

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Richard Thaler of US wins Nobel Economics Prize

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