Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded to Angus Deaton

I'm currently down in Panama to investigate bringing students down here over spring break next semester for my Economics of Poverty class.  I returned to Panama City from the Panamanian countryside yesterday to discover that the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Angus Deaton.  Much of Deaton's work involves developing better ways to measure the standard of living of the poor and the impact of economic progress around the world.

The New Yorker has a nice write-up about Deaton and his work.  Here are summaries by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok.  The Nobel committee also has nice non-technical and technical summaries of his work and why it matters.  David Leonhardt also had a great review of Deaton's work in the New York Times.

Deaton's work is a great example of how to apply economics in ways that help us better understand the world.

P.S. -- Christopher Blattman in Foreign Policy explains why Angus Deaton deserved the Nobel Prize in Economics.

P.P.S. -- Here is a great YouTube video of Deaton discussing his ideas: