The 2005 Goldstone Forum
presents
Thomas C. Schelling
Distinguished University Professor of Economics, University of Maryland
Lucius N. Littauer Emeritus Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University
Speaking on
“Rational Choice and Some of its Alternatives”
4 p.m. Thursday, April 14
Logan Hall, Room 17
University of Pennsylvania
The event is free and will include a public question and answer session.
The Goldstone Forum was established by a generous gift from Steven F. Goldstone, C’67, as part of the Steven Goldstone Fund for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. This event is sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences and the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
About Thomas C. Schelling
Thomas C. Schelling is one of the world’s leading experts on matters
of political economy and foreign affairs. In a career spanning more than five
decades, he has influenced national policy on issues ranging from arms control
to climate change. He held positions in the White House, taught economics at
Yale and developed theories of nuclear deterrence at the RAND Corporation before
joining the economics department at Harvard in 1958.
A pioneer in the field of game theory, Schelling conducted thought experiments about nuclear crisis management that revealed the futility of a missile exchange with the Soviet Union. Realizing that atomic weapons had power in their mere existence, he fostered an approach that allowed the United States to use the threat of nuclear conflict to engineer political outcomes. His 1960 book, The Strategy of Conflict, was translated into five languages and was selected as one of the 100 books that have most influenced the West since 1945. For his efforts, he received the 1993 National Academy of Sciences Award for Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War.
In addition to military strategy and arms control, Schelling has published work on energy and environmental policy, conflict and bargaining theory, terrorism, organized crime, racial segregation and integration, international trade and foreign aid. Most recently, his scholarship has focused on the economic ramifications of global warming. His results indicate that the best climate-change policy is to emphasize continuous economic growth for developing nations.
Schelling remained at Harvard until 1990, when he joined the economics department at the University of Maryland. He has been honored with The Frank. E. Seidman Distinguished Award in Political Economy and is a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association, of which he was the president in 1991.