Debreu, Gerard

▪ 2005

      French-born American economist (b. July 4, 1921, Calais, France—d. Dec. 31, 2004, Paris, France), won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1983 for his examination of how prices affect the balance, or equilibrium, of supply and demand. Debreu's use of mathematical modeling in economics was somewhat uncommon and proved influential in the field. The strength and breadth of his mathematical research bolstered his economic theories, and this strict discipline was evident in his classic monograph Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium (1959). After the Allied landings in June 1944, Debreu interrupted his study of economics at the University of Paris (Ph.D., 1946) to join the army and fight to free France from German occupation. Immigrating to the United States, he joined the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics in 1950; he transferred with that group in 1955 when it moved from Chicago to Yale University. In 1960 he relocated to California to conduct research at Stanford University, before joining the staff of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962 as a professor of economics and mathematics. The 1983 Nobel honour arrived during his long tenure at Berkeley, from which he retired in 1991. Debreu became a U.S. citizen in 1975.

* * *

▪ French-American economist

born July 4, 1921, Calais, France

died December 31, 2004, Paris

      French-born American economist, who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Economics for his fundamental contribution to the theory of general equilibrium.

      In 1950 Debreu joined the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics (now the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics) at the University of Chicago, moving with the commission to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1955. He received his doctorate in economics from the University of Paris in 1956. He later became a professor of economics (1962) and mathematics (1975) at the University of California at Berkeley, where he taught until 1991. Debreu became a U.S. citizen in 1975.

      Debreu's classic monograph, Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium, was published in 1959. In it Debreu provided the mathematical underpinnings for the phenomenon of equilibrium in supply and demand that was first articulated (as the “invisible hand” that leads self-seeking men unwittingly to aid society) by Adam Smith (Smith, Adam) in 1776. Debreu also developed methods by which to analyze the factors that influence equilibrium.

      The recipient of numerous awards, Debreu was made an officer of the French Legion of Honour in 1976 and was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1977.

* * *