Thomas Schelling, Nobel Laureate
Congratulations to Thomas Schelling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics (with Robert Aumann). Schelling, amongst many accomplishments which Tyler Cowan discusses here, put forth the notion that there are questions with answers which are correct because those are the answers everyone would choose. (The canonical example is where do you meet in New York if your cell phone runs out of batteries before you can fix a place? Under the clock in Grand Central.)
He was not only insightful about economics, he was able to write about new and important ideas in an accessible and understandable way. I had the pleasure of sitting across from him at lunch at a conference once. He was funny, engaging, and had great stories. That storytelling ability figured into his writing in a way that many economists would do well to emulate.
Schelling points
Thomas Schelling and Robert Aumann won this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics for “having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis.” See Adam’s blog for an explanation of Schelling points, which I was to learn a…
“The canonical example is where do you meet in New York if your cell phone runs out of batteries before you can fix a place?”
Hee. I don’t know if that is the canonical framing… But Schelling is a great choice in that he was not afraid to expand the boundaries of economic thought. He understood when it was important to re-examine the underpining assumptions, both when it took us in a more rational direction (housing “discrimination”) and more behavioral (decision-making).
Well, a little updating doesn’t hurt the cannons. 🙂 The core of his question was the artificial introduction of a partial inability to communicate about where to meet in New York. If I remember, the actual canonical example was you had to run to catch your train, which may have biased the results.
“If I’m looking too pleased, I can’t help it.”
Peter Reuter told me that the Quicktime audiotapes of Tom Schelling’s press conference yesterday morning was “pure Tom: just like having dinner with him.” Exactly right. Charming, informal, modest, lucid, funny. I note with pleasure that virtually ever…
“If I’m looking too pleased, I can’t help it.”
Peter Reuter told me that the Quicktime audiotapes of Tom Schelling’s press conference yesterday morning was “pure Tom: just like having dinner with him.” Exactly right. Charming, informal, modest, lucid, funny. I note with pleasure that virtually ever…