Phelps, Edmund Strother, Jr., 1933–, American economist, b. Evanston, Ill., Ph.D. Yale, 1959. He has been a professor at Yale (1960–66), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1966–71), Columbia (1971–), and New York Univ. (1978–79) and also has held a number of research and advisory positions. Phelps's work has examined the optimum rate of national savings for the equal benefit of current and future generations, has taken into account how expectations about inflation affect future inflation, and has described the limits of monetary and fiscal policy in reducing unemployment. He also has done work on the concept of economic justice and economic inclusion and has examined the limitations of the concept of rational expectations in economic modeling. In 2006 he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the understanding of the relationship between economic policy's short- and long-term effects.
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