William Vickrey

Economist

1914-06-21 – 1996-10-11

William Vickrey was a Canadian-born American economist and Nobel laureate known for foundational work on auction theory and incentives under asymmetric information. He taught at Columbia University and shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Quotes by William Vickrey

The great increase in longevity has produced a surge in the desire to accumulate assets for retirement. It has outpaced the ability of the private sector to produce assets, so we need a larger government debt.
Read quote
Don't you think you're just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic?
Read quote
Currently a level of unemployment of 7 percent or more seems to be required to keep inflation from accelerating, a level quite unacceptable as a permanent situation.
Read quote
Increasingly prices are set by sellers to raise their prices without a loss of sales sufficient to wipe out the gain.
Read quote