Edmund Phelps
Edmund Phelps
Edmund Strother Phelps, Jr.is an American economist and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Early in his career he became renowned for his research at Yale's Cowles Foundation in the first half of the 1960s on the sources of economic growth. His demonstration of the Golden Rule savings rate, a concept first devised by John von Neumann and Maurice Allais, started a wave of research on how much a nation ought to spend on present...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth26 July 1933
CountryUnited States of America
When I was a teenager, I learned to play the trumpet. Music became my passion.
To prosper and advance, the American business sector is going to need a financial system oriented toward business, not 'home ownership.'
Workers in decent jobs view the economy as unjust if they or their children have virtually no chance of climbing to a higher rung in the socioeconomic ladder.
Overpaying the banks for their toxic assets could contribute capital, but that may not be politically feasible or attractive.
Italy and France could lop off their excessive wealth through a one-time tax on private wealth.
When the word 'morality' comes up in connection with economics, income distribution and financial stability are usually the issues. Is it moral for rich countries to use such a high proportion of the world's resources or for investment bankers to earn large bonuses?
I've lived to see key parts of my research absorbed in textbooks and in central banks around the world. And some finance ministries, too.