Cambridge Author Angus Deaton Wins Nobel Prize For Economics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for 2015 to Angus Deaton, author of two books published by Cambridge University Press, "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare."

Deaton, who is Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Economics Department at Princeton University,  and who has taught at the University of Cambridge, is co-author with John Muelbauer, of Economic and Consumer Behavior and the author of, Essays in the Theory and Measurement of Consumer Behavior, which have become classics in the field.

The work for which Deaton is now being honoured revolves around three central questions: How do consumers distribute their spending among different goods? How much of society's income is spent and how much is saved? and How do we best measure and analyze welfare and poverty?

The Academy said: "To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices. 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."

Dr Phil Good, Economics Editor at Cambridge University Press, said: "I'm delighted for Professor Deaton, this prize is fitting tribute to an extraordinary and distinguished career. He was discussing poverty and inequality long before the financial crisis happened and he is passionate about using economics to improve people's lives."

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