Stigler, George J(oseph)

(born Jan. 17, 1911, Renton, Wash., U.S.—died Dec. 1, 1991, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. economist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He taught at various institutions and in 1977 founded the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago. Stigler studied the economics of information, elaborating on the traditional understanding of how efficient markets operate. He also studied public regulation, concluding that it is usually detrimental to consumer interests. He won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1982.

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