Thomas J. Sargent

Facts

Thomas J. Sargent

© The Nobel Foundation. Photo: U. Montan

Thomas J. Sargent
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2011

Born: 19 July 1943, Pasadena, CA, USA

Affiliation at the time of the award: New York University, New York, NY, USA

Prize motivation: “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy”

Prize share: 1/2

Life

Thomas J. Sargent was born in Pasadena, California in the United States. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, he was awarded a doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1968. Sargent has held positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University. He has held a professorship at New York University since 2002.

Work

How is the economy affected by unexpected events and changes in economic policy? What effects do interest rate hikes and tax reductions have on the production of good and services, unemployment, inflation and investment? Thomas Sargent has developed methods for examining the relationship between policy and economics. For example, he has shown how the effects of the permanent restructuring of economic policy can be analysed and how households and businesses have adjusted their expectations to match economic development.

To cite this section
MLA style: Thomas J. Sargent – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Wed. 4 Dec 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2011/sargent/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.