Lives of the Laureates

Autobiographical accounts by eighteen Nobel Laureates give a picture of the diversity and richness of contemporary economic thought.

Lives of the Laureates offers readers an informal history of modern economic thought as told through autobiographical essays by eighteen winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics. The essays not only provide unique insights into major economic ideas of our time but also shed light on the processes of intellectual discovery and creativity. This fourth edition adds five new Nobel laureates to its list of contributors: Gary S. Becker, 1992 recipient; John C. Harsanyi, co-recipient in 1994; Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 1995 recipient; Myron S. Scholes, co-recipient in 1997; and James J. Heckman, co-recipient in 2000. This edition also includes a new afterword by the editors, 'Lessons from the Laureates.'

Lives of the Laureates collecs revised presentations from a continuing lecture series at Trinity University in San Antonio, for which Nobelists at American universities are invited to give an account of 'My Evolution as an Economist.' Some common motivating themes emerge: the importance of real world events and a desire for relevance -- as seen in James Tobin's decision to enter economics in order to understand the ruin caused by the Great Depression and in Gary Becker's recourse to economics to help him understand inequality, race, and class; the influence of great teachers -- several cite the charismatic Milton Friedman; the right conditions for creativity and intellectual discovery -- as found at the University of Chicago starting in the late 1940s, and the Rand Corporation in the 1950s; and the role of chance in their careers -- the 'lucky accidents' that set them on one path rather than another. Together, these individual accounts give what the editors call a 'comprehensive picture of the diverseness, richness, and profundity that is the hallmark of contemporary economic thought in America.'

Review text:

'No one can tell you how to win the Nobel Prize, but these autobiographical essays bring you as close as you can get. If you are interested in what makes great economists tick, this book makes for fascinating reading.'

--Roger Backhouse, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

'This is the fourth edition of one of my favorite books. It consists of lectures by Nobel Laureates, each of whom was asked to describe the development of their principal contribution to economics and to do so in language accessible to a lay audience. One of these laureates, George Stigler, is famous for denying the relevance of biography to intellectual history. Every page of this book refutes his thesis. Reading it teaches us more about what makes economics a fascinating subject than almost anything I have read in years.'

--Mark Blaug, Professor of the History and Methodology of Economics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

'These rich essays provide a fascinating glimpse of the life experiences that helped spawn the most influential work in our profession.'

--Robert Frank, Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and Professor of Economics, Cornell University