World knows more of people who live under $1 a day.
By Raif Karerat
Angus Deaton, a professor at Princeton University, has won the Nobel Prize in economics for his research into how people rich and poor make decisions about what to buy and how much to save.
The Nobel Prize committee recognized Deaton for his “analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare” — a broad phrase to describe a broad body of research.
In recent decades, he has spent much of his time using those ideas to investigate poverty in developing nations, especially India and South Africa, reported the Washington Post.
Daton’s efforts surveying poor households — measuring malnutrition, living standards, and whether parents discriminate between boys and girls — has helped economists better understand those who live on less than a dollar a day.
Development economist Jean Dreze, who has authored several papers with Nobel laureate Angus Deaton on poverty and nutrition in India, has praised his contribution to shaping economic policy in India.
“Angus Deaton is not only a brilliant economist but also a formidable scholar and a great writer. He has shown how intelligent use of survey data can illuminate momentous issues of human welfare and contribute to public reasoning,” Dreze told the Associated Press from the Indian state of Jharkhand.
“Deaton’s work has important implications not only for the substance of economic policy in India, but also for the process of policy-making,” he added.
The Nobel prize in economics comes with an award of about $976,000, and most winners have been American, reported The Post. Scottish-born Deaton has joint British and U.S. citizenship.