Nobel Laureate William Vickrey: Stockholm Seminar

Harriss, C. Lowell, The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

Economics requires a "big tent," one large enough to house many elements of wide diversity. The occupants will have an enormous range of high skills. William Vickrey used his exceptional abilities to work on many frontiers of the profession.

My life has included at least casual acquaintance with many, probably most, of the recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science. I have some, albeit sadly inadequate, familiarity with their work. The coverage is indeed extensive. One outstanding feature of Professor Vickrey's body of achievements is the number and diversity of subjects to which he made major contributions.

One thinks of social choice, counterspeculation, auctions, marginal utility measurement, welfare (human well-being--not the American usage of aid to the poor), taxation (income averaging, death duties, capital gains, progression), marginal cost pricing, public utility charges, airline overbooking, subway fares (revenue and non-revenue effects), urban affairs, use of land rents as a means of financing government, paying for city services, macroeconomics (inflation control, fuller …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Nobel Laureate William Vickrey: Stockholm Seminar. Contributors: Harriss, C. Lowell - Author. Journal title: The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. Volume: 57. Issue: 2 Publication date: April 1998. Page number: 239+. © 1999 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc. COPYRIGHT 1998 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.