George Akerlof
George Akerlof
George Arthur Akerlofis an American economist who is University Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Koshland Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth17 June 1940
CountryUnited States of America
capture market models prior rarely specific theorists
Prior to the early 1960s, economic theorists rarely constructed models customized to capture unique institutions or specific market characteristics.
aggregate business caused classical cycle decline declining employment exceed holding leaves mistakenly periods wages workers
In New Classical theory, periods of declining employment - business cycle downturns - may be caused by an unexpected decline in aggregate demand, which leaves workers mistakenly holding out for nominal wages that exceed the new market-clearing level.
classical hated lack sacked saw weaknesses
In the late 1960s, the New Classical economists saw the same weaknesses in the microfoundations of macroeconomics that have motivated me. They hated its lack of rigor. And they sacked it.
focusing
I think what Bob Shiller and I are doing is we're focusing on macroeconomics and the role of psychology in macroeconomics.
accurate good regarding
I would never have been a good reporter because I am not accurate regarding facts.
concerned guess since
I've always been a macroeconomist. That's what I teach. And I guess that's what I've been concerned with ever since I've been very young.
My brother Carl became a physicist; I became an economist.
chemist yale
My father was a chemist on the Yale faculty, my mother a housewife.
failure major markets
The failure of credit markets is one of the major reasons for underdevelopment.
The only way we are going to ameliorate pressing social needs is through public intervention.
empirical intention theory
The whole intention of empirical economics is to force theory down to Earth.
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My mother, whose interest in chemistry was rather minimal, nevertheless went to graduate school in the subject and married my father, for whom it was as important as life itself.
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My Swedish grandmother was the daughter of a dairy farmer who lived near Hedemora. My Swedish grandfather worked as a clerk for the Swedish railways in the Stockholm station.
decide global room whether
Parents don't take a baby's temperature to decide whether the room is too warm; likewise, for global warming, we need a story that spurs us to do what is necessary.