Sir James Mirrlees, 1996 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences
In celebration of Xiamen University’s 90th Anniversary, Sir James Mirrlees, winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was invited to lecture on the elimination of poverty in the Chinese context.
Sir James Mirrlees’ work includes research on economic models in situations where economic information is asymmetrical, determining the extent to which they should affect the optimal rate of savings in an economy. Among other results, they demonstrated the principles of “moral hazard” and “optimal income taxation.” [*1]
This particular lecture focuses on the role industrialization played to relieve poverty in China by 1) reducing the total population in the agricultural sector, and 2) providing the infrastructure and industrial inputs required for improving agricultural productivity. It also stresses the importance of sufficient public consumption – healthcare, education, welfare, etc – which represents an essential part of our living standards.
I felt the argument too narrow for a topic so broad, and yet the takeaway resolution -“develop agriculture”- provides too vague a guidance for the rest of the developing nations to be meaningful. Perhaps it was too complicated a subject for 60 minutes, but it leaves me with an unsatisfying “So…what now?”
Below: audio & slides from “The Elimination of Poverty” by Sir James Mirrlees [*2]
On "The Elimination of Poverty"
[PDF] The Elimination of Poverty – James Mirrlees
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