Gary Becker

Gary Stanley Becker (December 2, 1930 ~ May 3, 2014) was an American economist. He was a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago and a professor at the Booth School of Business. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 and received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.[1]

Gary Becker
GaryBecker-May24-2008.jpg
Gary Becker speaking in Chicago, May 24, 2008
Born(1930-12-02)December 2, 1930
DiedMay 3, 2014(2014-05-03) (aged 83)
Alma materPrinceton University
University of Chicago
Awards1967 John Bates Clark Medal
1992 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
1997 Pontifical Academy of Sciences
2004 John von Neumann Award
2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom

Becker was one of the first economists to study topics that were usually researched in sociology. He studied family organization in new and interesting ways. He studied racial discrimination, crime, and rational addiction. He said that many different types of human behavior that seem self-destructive or irrational can be seen as rational and utility-maximizing. He also studied altruism in human behavior. He showed that sometimes altruism was really to help oneself. He was a strong supporter of studying human capital. According to Milton Friedman, he was "the greatest social scientist who has lived and worked" in the second part of the twentieth century.[2]

Becker was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Gary Becker died in Chicago, Illinois from complications of ulcer surgery, aged 83.[3][4]

References

  1. "President Bush Announces 2007 Medal of Freedom Recipients". Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  2. Catherine Rampell. "Gary Becker, an economist who changed economics"Washington Post May 5, 2014
  3. Harms, William (May 4, 2014). "Gary S. Becker, Nobel-winning scholar of economics and sociology, 1930–2014". Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  4. Mankiw, N. Gregory (May 4, 2014). "Very Sad News". Retrieved May 4, 2014.

Other websites

  Media related to Gary Becker at Wikimedia Commons