The Telegraph :Scottish economist Angus Deaton has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in economic science for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare.The decision was announced at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm yesterday. Mr Deaton, who is at Princeton University, will receive a cash prize of 8m Swedish kronor (£635,000).Mr Deacon’s research has concentrated on measuring poverty in the developing world and the determinants of health in rich and poor countries.Angus Deaton is Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton “Mr Deaton’s work has helped transformed the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics & development economics” said the prize givers.US economist Tyler Cowen said Mr Deaton was “a brilliant, excellent selection”. Mr Deaton, who holds both US and British citizenship, taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol, before moving to the US.The economist said he was “surprised and delighted” when he received the call from Stockholm.Angus Deaton was born in Edinburgh in 1949 and received his PhD at Cambridge University. The son of a Yorkshire miner who later became a civil engineer, Mr Deaton fulfilled his father’s dream by gaining a scholarship to study at the prestigious Fettes College in Edinburgh aged 13.”My father believed in education, and he liked to measure things” wrote Mr Deaton in 2011.”My father was determined that I should be educated properly, and set his heart on sending me to Fettes College… whose annual fees were well in excess of his salary”.While at Cambridge, Mr Deaton said he “found economics much more to my taste than mathematics”. He left Cambridge to briefly work for the Bank of England, but soon returned for his post-graduate study, later receiving his PhD in economics.Mr Deaton’s work has pioneered tools to measure poverty and the relationship between income and consumption in the developing world. “He was in a bit of shock…but I think he was very very happy” said prize giver and friend of Mr Deaton’s professor Jakob Svensson.Mr Deaton’s most recent book, “The Great Escape” published in 2013. Economist Justin Wolfers described him as “one of the great microeconomists and microeconometricians of our time.””Deaton has worked tirelessly to understand the lot of the poor”.Last year, the award – which is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel – went to French economist Jean Tirole for his pioneering work on the regulation of large companies.This prize has been awarded every year since 1969.Mr Deaton had been touted as one of the leading candidates for this year’s award. Other candidates had included British economist and professor at University College London.
