Eric Maskin
Eric Maskin
Eric Stark Maskinis an American economist and 2007 Nobel laureate recognized with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory". He is the Adams University Professor at Harvard University. Until 2011, he was the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, and a visiting lecturer with the rank of professor at Princeton University...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth12 December 1950
CountryUnited States of America
Because mechanism designers do not generally know which outcomes are optimal in advance, they have to proceed more indirectly than simply prescribing outcomes by fiat; in particular, the mechanisms designed must generate the information needed as they are executed.
At Tenafly High, I was lucky to have some dedicated teachers; I'm especially indebted to my calculus instructor, Francis Piersa, who opened my eyes to the striking beauty of mathematics.
Through meteorology, we know essentially how hurricanes form, even though we can't say where the next storm will arise.
The market is no god - it cannot solve every problem.
The market doesn't work very well when it comes to public goods.
Most policy makers embrace a religious-like belief that the market can and should solve every problem.
Markets work well with goods that economists call private goods.
In an industry with highly sequential innovation, it may be better for society to scrap patents altogether than try to tighten them.
I'm not a housing market expert, and I don't want to pretend to be one.
I was born in New York City but grew up across the Hudson River in Alpine, New Jersey.
A properly designed tax system can strike a balance between helping the poor and, at the same time, giving people the incentive to work.
Many markets work best with little or no outside interference. But others - especially those subject to big 'externalities' - need a helping hand.
There is universal consensus among experts that the earth's atmosphere is heating up - and that we are responsible for it by putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We also know that the consequences of global warming are catastrophic. But how do we make sure that all countries reduce greenhouse gases?
There are some things that we value as a public good that the markets can't deliver, like clean air.