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 | |
|---|---|
 Gary Becker speaking in Chicago, May 24, 2008 | |
| Born | December 2, 1930 Pottsville, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | May 3, 2014 (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Princeton University University of Chicago |
| Awards | 1967 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
- ↑ "President Bush Announces 2007 Medal of Freedom Recipients". Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
- ↑ Catherine Rampell. "Gary Becker, an economist who changed economics"Washington Post May 5, 2014
- ↑ Harms, William (May 4, 2014). "Gary S. Becker, Nobel-winning scholar of economics and sociology, 1930–2014". Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ↑ Mankiw, N. Gregory (May 4, 2014). "Very Sad News". Retrieved May 4, 2014.
Other websites
Media related to Gary Becker at Wikimedia Commons
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