Stigin' It To The Man: George Stigler

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George Stigler (1911-1991) was a neoclassic economist and an important figure in the development of many of our currently used economic principles. Stigler taught at the University of Chicago, where he worked closely with Milton Freidman. George Stigler was said to be quite brilliant in his field and yet, he kept a confident wit about himself that was said to help his students enjoy and understand economics. (Sowell) Comparatively, Stigler was a sort of renascence man in the economic field, as he was well studied, versatile, and involved in many facets of economic thought. Stigler’s drive to dispute and negate old economic theory, while further quantifying existing theory, is what most would argue defined his economic frame of mind. (Sowell)

Stigler was well known for his work in industrial organization and in developing the “Economic Theory of Regulation”. Stigler also had numerous fundamental contributions to many important economic theories and ideas such as price theory, short run, diminishing returns, and the history of economic thought. According to Nobelprize.org, in 1982 Stigler was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for "His seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets, causes and effects of public regulation, fundamental contributions to the study of market processes and the analysis of the structure of industries."

Although it can be argued that Stigler’s primary focus was industrial organization, his reach throughout economics was vast and widespread. He is probably best known for his work in price theory and the development of "The Economic Theory of Regulation", also known as "Capture". (Schmalensee)

Within “The Economic Theory of Regulation” Stigler points out the major inefficiencies...

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Schmalensee, Richard. "George Stigler's Contributions To Economics." Scandinavian Journal Of Economics 85.1 (1983): 77. Business Source Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Sowell, Thomas. "A Student's Eye View Of George Stigler." Journal Of Political Economy 101.5 (1993): 784. Business Source Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Stigler, George J. "The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science." The Theory of Economic Regulation 2.1 (1971): 3-21. JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. .

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