In this essay I am going to discuss Gary Stanley Becker. He was born on December 2nd 1930 in Pottsville, Pensilvania and died on 3rd May 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a major economist that received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1993 for his work in widening the field of microeconomic study to include a increased range of human actions including non trade behaviour . I will discuss briefly his life and how it contributed to his work. Additionally I will aim to discuss his three main contributions to economics. And lastly I will discuss his other contributions to economics.
Because he was born in a mining town then later growing up in Brooklyn New York, he was able to actively see how different societies lived especially how each place …show more content…
It could be suggested that through is changing experience of children, marriage and divorce as well as is is upbringing,that it could have affected his interest in human behaviour and discrimination. Further more his roles in various institutions could have contributed to Becker 's work.
The first main contributions was how he discussed the presumptions that economists made about human behaviours and applied them to all types of behaviours including topics that do not involve the market systems.
He used rational reasoning to conduct the choices of buying and selling instead of buying and selling at random. The rational choices are based on what is best for the individual and not the rest of society. It is not based on how investment or expenditure could affect interpersonal and societal relationships.
This contribution was important as he analysed all forms of behaviour and not just buying and selling. The individual’s behaviour is based round maximising …show more content…
the book contained the first active effort to discus the effects of attitudes against earnings employment and occupations of minorities. It was positively reviewed in a few important journals but not initially. The different departs of economics and social science(psychology and sociology) did not believe that he was contributing to both of their fields part from Lewis, Scholtz, Friedman and others that were part of the Chicago School who did understand the books importance. (Nobel Autobiography)
In the late 1960’s Becker interpret the purpose of acts of crime as a consequence of the cost and benefits that crime. He conclude the solution being to make the punishment of the crime increasingly sever (The concise encyclopaedia of economics). One of the common views of the time was that criminal behaviour happened because of social mistreatment or mental illness . Where as Becker suggested that potential criminals behaved with reason and affected by the expected costs and rewards of criminal activity.
Further more Becker also took an interesting stance against drug use as a benefit towards maximising or benefiting an individuals well-being leading on to stating that the consequence can lead to powerful addictions. He addresses the issue of legalising drugs stating that there will be a strong increase in drug addiction. This will lead to a fall in price because increased chance of peer pressure leading to a increased
Because he was born in a mining town then later growing up in Brooklyn New York, he was able to actively see how different societies lived especially how each place …show more content…
It could be suggested that through is changing experience of children, marriage and divorce as well as is is upbringing,that it could have affected his interest in human behaviour and discrimination. Further more his roles in various institutions could have contributed to Becker 's work.
The first main contributions was how he discussed the presumptions that economists made about human behaviours and applied them to all types of behaviours including topics that do not involve the market systems.
He used rational reasoning to conduct the choices of buying and selling instead of buying and selling at random. The rational choices are based on what is best for the individual and not the rest of society. It is not based on how investment or expenditure could affect interpersonal and societal relationships.
This contribution was important as he analysed all forms of behaviour and not just buying and selling. The individual’s behaviour is based round maximising …show more content…
the book contained the first active effort to discus the effects of attitudes against earnings employment and occupations of minorities. It was positively reviewed in a few important journals but not initially. The different departs of economics and social science(psychology and sociology) did not believe that he was contributing to both of their fields part from Lewis, Scholtz, Friedman and others that were part of the Chicago School who did understand the books importance. (Nobel Autobiography)
In the late 1960’s Becker interpret the purpose of acts of crime as a consequence of the cost and benefits that crime. He conclude the solution being to make the punishment of the crime increasingly sever (The concise encyclopaedia of economics). One of the common views of the time was that criminal behaviour happened because of social mistreatment or mental illness . Where as Becker suggested that potential criminals behaved with reason and affected by the expected costs and rewards of criminal activity.
Further more Becker also took an interesting stance against drug use as a benefit towards maximising or benefiting an individuals well-being leading on to stating that the consequence can lead to powerful addictions. He addresses the issue of legalising drugs stating that there will be a strong increase in drug addiction. This will lead to a fall in price because increased chance of peer pressure leading to a increased