2 TO SHARE NOBEL IN ECONOMICS : AMERICAN HONORED WITH BRITISH PROFESSOR.Byline: Sally Jacobsen Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. An American economist with unorthodox ideas - among them that ``it's insane to try to balance the budget'' - Tuesday shared the Nobel economics prize with a British professor. William Vickrey William Spencer Vickrey (born June 21, 1914 in Victoria, British Columbia - died October 11, 1996 in New York State) was a Columbia University professor, whose Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was announced just three days before he died. , professor emeritus at Columbia University, and James Mirrlees, who teaches at Cambridge University in Britain, were cited for explaining how governments and consumers use incomplete data to make decisions. Vickrey and Mirrlees will split the $1.12 million prize for innovative studies on ``asymmetric information Asymmetric Information Information available to some people but not others. Notes: In other words, the asymmetric information is held by only one side, meaning someone is keeping a secret. .'' Put simply, ``asymmetric information'' means someone knows something someone else doesn't. A person seeking medical coverage may have health problems, but the insurer doesn't know it. A buyer won't know as much about a used car as the seller. And a government doesn't know the earnings abilities of the citizens it wants to tax. Although Vickrey and Mirrlees conducted separate studies decades apart, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics. in Stockholm said their work led to a better understanding of economic activity, including tax programs, auctions, insurance and credit markets. ``I was amazed,'' said Mirrlees, a 60-year-old native of Scotland. ``I wanted to make sure I wasn't being teased'' when he received the call from the academy. ``It's very gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. . . . very warming,'' said Vickrey, 82, a naturalized nat·u·ral·ize v. nat·u·ral·ized, nat·u·ral·iz·ing, nat·u·ral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To grant full citizenship to (one of foreign birth). 2. To adopt (something foreign) into general use. American citizen and native of Victoria, British Columbia. In other work, he has advocated that the government take on more, not less, debt. ``The insane pursuit of the holy grail of a balanced budget Balanced budget A budget in which the income equals expenditure. See: budget. balanced budget A budget in which the expenditures incurred during a given period are matched by revenues. is going to drive the economy into a depression,'' he told a news conference. A bigger national debt, he said, will help those saving for retirement. ``The great increase in longevity has produced a surge in the desire to accumulate assets for retirement. It has outpaced the ability of the private sector to produce assets, so we need a larger government debt.'' In his Nobel-winning research done 50 years ago, Vickrey drew up a model showing how taxing incomes can be designed to balance efficiency and equity. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) William Vickrey Known for unorthodox v iews (2--Color) James Mirrlees Teaches at Cambridge |
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