SCOTS academic Angus Deaton has been awarded the Nobel economics prize for 2015 for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.
The Edinburgh-born professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University in the US who celebrates his 70th birthday on Monday was acclaimed for his academic work on the links between consumption and income - and how public policy changes can affect rich and poor.
The Nobel Committee said: "To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices. More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding.
"Thanks to the work of Angus Deaton, we today have a much deeper understanding..." #NobelPrize http://t.co/huIoE6kdLL
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 12, 2015
"By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, his research has helped transform the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics."
The microeconomist, who was previously at Cambridge and Bristol universities said he was "surprised and delighted" by the award. He had been in the running for the prize several times in past years.
Among those acclaiming the Scot after the announcement was Harvard professor Amitabh Chandra who descdribed him as the "Obi-Wan Kenobi of Economics".
Mr Deaton's research has concentrated on measuring poverty in the developing world and the determinants of health in rich and poor countries.
The award includes prize money of £637,000.
The decision was announced at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Mr 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, he was educated as a Foundation Scholar at Fettes College in Edinburgh.
"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".
The academy said the work for which Mr Deaton is now being honoured revolves around three central questions: How do consumers distribute their spending among different goods; how much of society's income is spent and how much is saved; and how do we best measure and analyse welfare and poverty?
Last year, French economist Jean Tirole won the award for his research on market power and regulation.
In a press conference following the announcement, Mr Deaton who holds both US and British citizenship described himself as "someone who's concerned with the poor of the world and how people behave, and what gives them a good life".
This year's Nobel Prize in Economics goes to the great Angus Deaton. One of the great microeconomists and microeconometricians of our time.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) October 12, 2015
Mr Deaton said he expects extreme poverty in the world to continue decreasing, but that he is not "blindly optimistic".
He said he was pleased that the committee decided to recognise work that concerns the poor people of the world.
Mr Deaton noted "tremendous health problems among adults and children in India, where there has been a lot of progress".
Deaton’s work has helped transformed the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics & development economics #NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/HbhSYFQ2wv
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 12, 2015
He said that half of the children in India are "still malnourished" and "for many people in the world, things are very bad indeed".
In 2011, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Social Science from the University of Edinburgh.
He said at the time: "It is an honour and a great pleasure for me to receive this honorary degree in my home city.” He went on to note that “economics is thriving once again in this great university, which makes it doubly pleasurable to help celebrate with you here."
The economics award is not a Nobel Prize in the same sense as the others, which were created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in 1895.
Angus Deaton is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Economics. Breathtaking range of work in poverty, health, healthcare, wellbeing, methods…
— Amitabh Chandra (@amitabhchandra2) October 12, 2015
Sweden's central bank added the economics prize in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel.
The announcement concludes this year's presentations of Nobel winners.
The awards will be handed out on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896, at lavish ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo.
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