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Turkish-American economist among recipients of Nobel economics prize 2024

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Daron Acemoğlu, a Turkish-American economist with Armenian roots, has been named one of three recipients of the Nobel prize in economics 2024 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, according to an announcement by the Nobel committee on Monday.

The three economists — Acemoğlu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson — were awarded the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”

They will share the prize, which carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million).

The three economists “have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at the announcement in Stockholm.

“Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better. The laureates’ research helps us understand why,” it added.

Acemoğlu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Robinson conducts his research at the University of Chicago.

Acemoğlu and Robinson jointly authored the New York Times bestseller “Why Nations Fail: Power, Prosperity, and Poverty and The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty,” while Acemoğlu and Johnson were co-authors of “Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.”

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said.

He said their research has provided “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.”

Reached by the academy in Athens, where he is due to speak at a conference, Acemoğlu said he was surprised and shocked by the award.

“You never expect something like this,” he said.

Acemoğlu was born in İstanbul to Armenian parents in 1967. After graduating from the prestigious Galatasaray High School, he completed his higher education in the UK.

He received his BA in economics at the University of York in 1989, M.Sc. in mathematical economics and econometrics at the London School of Economics in 1990 and Ph.D. in economics at the London School of Economics in 1992.

He has been continuing his academic career at MIT since 1993 and received the title of “Institute Professor” in 2019.

Acemoğlu had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in economics twice.

He received an award in the field of social sciences at the 2013 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards in Turkey in addition to many other international awards.

When Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the then-leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), unveiled his party’s new economic program in December 2022, Acemoğlu was among the members of the CHP economy team, a group of 70 experts that he called the party’s “brain team above the politics.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and politicians including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Gelecek (Future) Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu and DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan posted congratulatory messages on X for Acemoğlu, with some recalling their personal encounters with him and describing his success as “a source of pride.”

Acemoğlu is known for his outspoken criticism of the Turkish government’s economy policies and failure to implement broader reforms, which he sees as crucial to addressing the country’s economic woes such as high inflation and depreciation of the lira.

He has called for institutional reforms to strengthen democratic rights and freedom of expression, warning Turkey’s economy would continue to suffer without these reforms.

Acemoğlu was the third citizen of the Republic of Turkey to receive a Nobel Prize, following novelist Orhan Pamuk and molecular biologist Aziz Sancar.

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