Yahoo – AFP,
Hugues Honore, 13 Oct 2014
 |
French
economist Jean Tirole, seen here in June 2008, was awarded the Nobel
Economics
Prize "for his analysis of market power and regulation", according to
the
Royal Academy of Sciences (AFP Photo/Eric Cabanis)
|
Stockholm
(AFP) - Jean Tirole won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for research on
reining in corporate giants, a second French award this season hailed as a slap
in the face for "France bashers".
"One
of the most influential economists of our time," the jury called Tirole,
whose fellow countryman Patrick Modiano took the prize for literature last
week.
"Most
of all he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few
powerful firms," it said of the 61-year-old professor at Toulouse 1
Capitole University.
Taming huge
corporations, and ensuring they don't reap huge profits at the expense of
ordinary consumers, has emerged as a growing concern in recent years.
The global
financial crisis -- triggered by a small number of giant players in the banking
sector -- has further pushed the complex issue up the agenda for global
policymakers.
"Banking
is a very hard thing to regulate, and we economists have to do more work on
this," Tirole told the Nobel Committee after learning he had won the
prize, worth eight million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million, 878,000 euros).
Thumbing
noses at 'French-bashing'
News of his
win triggered delight in Paris -- as well as a note of vindication from the
French prime minister, irked by a string of articles decrying the morose state
of the nation.
"After
Patrick Modiano, yet another Frenchman has come to the fore: Congratulations to
Jean Tirole!" Manuel Valls tweeted after the announcement. "Talk
about thumbing your nose at 'French-bashing'."
Modiano's
win last week was already hailed as a boost for a country in the doldrums with
a stagnating economy and deeply unpopular government.
President
Francois Hollande said the prize puts the spotlight on "the quality of the
research carried out in our nation."
Tirole's
work, the Nobel jury said, has provided a framework for designing policies for
a range of industries from banking to telecommunications.
His
citation comes amid growing controversy over the market power of such companies
as Amazon and Google.
"Drawing
on these new insights, governments can better encourage powerful firms to
become more productive and, at the same time, prevent them from harming
competitors and customers," the jury said.
The
concentration of corporate power has been a key concern for policymakers since
the 1980s, when advanced countries moved progressively to allowing markets a
freer role.
The trend
has been strengthened across industries by technological advances and
globalisation, which produced unprecedented wealth but also exacerbated
inequality.
Dominate
thy neighbour
 |
Laureate of
the 2014 Nobel Prize in
Economics, French economist Jean Tirole and
his wife
Nathalie are seen at the Toulouse
School of Economics (TSE) on October 13,
2014 in Toulouse (AFP Photo/Remy Gabalda)
|
But his
Nobel Prize came for his work on oligopoly and game theory -- or the study of
how strategic interactions affect an outcome.
An
oligopoly is a state of limited competition, a popular example being the
cellular companies Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, which together
control around 90 percent of the market. A monopoly, on the other hand, is the
dominance of one seller in the market.
Tirole's
research has also shown how some companies -- for example producers of
widely-used but patented software -- are able to dominate not just their own
industry, but also related ones further down the production chain.
One of his
chief contributions is the notion that market dominance works differently in
different industries, according to the Nobel jury.
His
research suggests, for example, that it can sometimes make sense to allow firms
to undercut each other by setting prices below production costs -- something
traditionally disciplined under competition, or anti-trust, law.
"The
best regulation or competition policy should therefore be carefully adapted to
every industry's specific conditions."
American
near-monopoly
The prize
will be awarded at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of
the death in 1896 of the prizes' creator, Swedish scientist and philanthropist
Alfred Nobel.
Appropriately
for an economist who has dedicated much of his career to the study of monopolies,
Tirole's award reduces an American near-monopoly over the Nobel economics prize
in recent years.
Over the
past decade, 18 out 20 economics prize laureates have been from the United
States, including one Israeli-American.
Last year,
US scholars Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller won for their
work on spotting trends in the asset markets.
The
economics prize winds up this year's Nobel season, marked by the award Friday
of the peace prize to 17-year-old Pakistani Malala Yousafzai and India's
Kailash Satyarthi.
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
Related Article:
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 5 - Integrity
That May Surprise…
Number
five: There will be those who think it impossible to have a search for
integrity and fairness in all things. In other words, Human Beings will not
simply go with what they are told is the status quo. They will look at it and
they will say, "Well, I think it could be better. I'm going to look around
for something that has more integrity and fairness." Yes, there will be
those who tell you, "Look, the institutions hold all the cards and you
have to do it their way. If you want health insurance or you want loans from
the banks for your home, you better do it their way." I have news for you.
Even this is going to change.
"What
are you going to do?" the Human asks. "They hold all the power!"
In the past, there was nothing you could do. Now I'll tell you what the
potentials are. You're going to pull out the puzzle and look past the walls of
the maze. You're going to say, "Well, then I'll start my own
institution." And some will. The new institutions, based on integrity,
will sweep right past an old energy. In other words, there will be those who
are young today who are going to start a new way of banking, a new way of health
care, and a new way of insurance. And when you see these plans, you'll say,
"Why didn't we think of that?"
Have you
seen innovation and invention in the past decade that required thinking out of
the box of an old reality? Indeed, you have. I can't tell you what's coming,
because you haven't thought of it yet! But the potentials of it are looming
large. Let me give you an example, Let us say that 20 years ago, you predicted
that there would be something called the Internet on a device you don't really
have yet using technology that you can't imagine. You will have full libraries,
buildings filled with books, in your hand - a worldwide encyclopedia of
everything knowable, with the ability to look it up instantly! Not only that,
but that look-up service isn't going to cost a penny! You can call friends and
see them on a video screen, and it won't cost a penny! No matter how long you
use this service and to what depth you use it, the service itself will be free.
Now, anyone
listening to you back then would perhaps have said, "Even if we can
believe the technological part, which we think is impossible, everything costs
something. There has to be a charge for it! Otherwise, how would they stay in
business?" The answer is this: With new invention comes new paradigms of
business. You don't know what you don't know, so don't decide in advance what
you think is coming based on an old energy world. …”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.