Il 2015 Nobel Prize for Economia it was awarded to the Scotsman Angus Deaton for his studies on consumption, poverty and welfare. Born in Edinburgh in 1945, he obtained his doctorate at the University of Cambridge, then in 1983 he became professor of Economics and International Affairs at the University of Princeton, in New Jersey (USA). Deaton's studies focused on three aspects of economics: how consumers distribute their spending across different products, how much of society's earnings is spent and how much is saved, what is the best way to evaluate and analyze well-being and poverty.
Deaton made a “almost ideal demand pattern”, which is used to estimate how the demand for each good depends on the prices of all goods and on the income of individuals: the system has become a standard for evaluating various economic parameters and is still used today. “Thank you, thank you very much” said the professor in connection from the United States, while the committee explained the reasons for the choice: “To implement an economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices. And more than anyone else, Angus Deaton helped us understand."
The professor also formulated what is known as the Deaton's Paradox, based on the observation of the excessive regularity of consumption in the face of unexpected shocks of permanent income: essentially, beyond a certain income threshold, the attitude towards consumption does not change. In 2009 Deaton discovered that over the $75 mark, people's happiness does not increase because the desires to be fulfilled decrease. It has recently been released in Italian bookstores his latest work, “The Great Escape”.
