Economics Nobel Goes to Columbia's Edmund Phelps

They're probably drunk on champagne up at Columbia - Professor Edmund Phelps was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. His "analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy." Translation
from the AP: He "challenged prevailing views in the 1960s by developing a new economic model that has helped corporate and government leaders balance inflation and unemployment in decision-making."

Phelps told reporters in his New York apartment that he learned of the prize in a phone call from Sweden shortly after 6 a.m. He said he had waited for the award for a long time, but wasn't expecting it this year.

"I thought for a time I would get it in my 60s, then I thought I would get it in my 70s and, more recently, I've been thinking that I would get it in my 80s," he said.

You can also read more about his work at his "personal webpage" off of Columbia's server. We wish Professor Phelps a hearty congratulations - we took two of his classes and remember when he happily announced that Professor William Vickrey won the Nobel Prize (sharing it with James Mirrlees) ten years ago (the sad footnote is that Vickrey died a few days later).

Here is Columbia's press release about Phelp's prize. The PR office must be relieved to have good news - and not Minutemen-related stuff - to discuss.