| − | '''Paul Anthony Samuelson''' (Gary, Indiana, 1915 - Belmont, Massachusetts, 2009) was an American economist. He studied at the University of Chicago, and [[Harvard University]] (Master degree in 1936 and a Ph.D. in 1941). In 1970, he received the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Memorial Prize]] in Economic Sciences. Samuelson was the author of ''Foundations of Economic Analysis'' (1947), and a textbook, ''Economics: An Introductory Analysis'' (1948); the last one a popular and influential book for students translated into forty-one languages and considered the best-selling economics textbook in history. He wrote also numerous pioneering articles on economic theory (''Collected Scientific Papers'', 3 vol., 1966). | + | '''Paul Anthony Samuelson''' (Gary, Indiana, 1915 - Belmont, Massachusetts, 2009) was an American economist. He studied at the University of Chicago, and [[Harvard University]] (Master degree in 1936 and a Ph.D. in 1941). In 1970, he received the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Memorial Prize]] in Economic Sciences. Samuelson was the author of ''Foundations of Economic Analysis'' (1947), and a textbook, ''Economics: An Introductory Analysis'' (1948); the last one a popular and influential book for students translated into forty-one languages and considered the best-selling economics textbook in history. He wrote also numerous pioneering articles on economic theory (''Collected Scientific Papers'', 5 vol., 1966 - 1986). |
| | Samuelson was essential to creating the Neoclassical economics, as a neo-Keynesian economist founder. He used mathematical methods developed for [[thermodynamics]] to the study of economics. Samuelson considered himself an '''eclectic liberal'''. He is best known for his methods and innovations in economics, and not for his political ideas. | | Samuelson was essential to creating the Neoclassical economics, as a neo-Keynesian economist founder. He used mathematical methods developed for [[thermodynamics]] to the study of economics. Samuelson considered himself an '''eclectic liberal'''. He is best known for his methods and innovations in economics, and not for his political ideas. |
| | + | Samuelson’s magnum opus, which did more than any other single book to spread the mathematical revolution in economics, is ''Foundations of Economic Analysis''. Based on his Harvard Ph.D. dissertation, this book shows how virtually all economic behavior can be understood as maximizing or minimizing subject to a constraint. [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Samuelson.html] |