Angus Deaton Won 2015 Nobel Prize for Analysis of Consumption and Welfare

Research Associate Angus Deaton was awarded the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare. "To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its announcement of the award. "More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding. By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, his research has helped transform the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics."

Deaton’s research "has also exemplified how the clever use of household data may shed light on such issues as the relationships between income and calorie intake, and the extent of gender discrimination within the family," the award committee said.

At the time of the award, Deaton was the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of International Affairs and a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. He was affiliated with seven NBER research programs: Economics of Aging, Children, Development Economics, Economic Fluctuations and Growth, Economics of Education, Health Care, and Public Economics.

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