Paul Samuelson

Paul Samuelson, whose work helped form the basis of modern economics, died on Sunday in his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, after a brief illness. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) .

Samuelson was renowned for his work in applying rigorous mathematical analysis to the balance between prices and supply and demand.

"Paul Samuelson transformed everything he touched: the theoretical foundations of his field, the way economics was taught around the world, the ethos and stature of his department, the investment practices of MIT, and the lives of his colleagues and students," MIT President Susan Hockfield said in a statement.

"He leaves an immense legacy, as a researcher and a teacher, as one of the giants on whose shoulders every contemporary economist stands," said James Poterba, president of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Samuelson was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics – in 1970, the second year of the award.

At the time, the Swedish Academy cited Samuelson for having "done more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory."

Samuelson insisted that mathematics was essential to economic analysis.

In his seminal 1947 work, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Samuelson chastised his profession for practicing "mental gymnastics of a particularly depraved type," and being "highly trained athletes who never ran a race."

Samuelson's signature textbook, Economics: An Introductory Analysis, has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies since its publication in 1948.

"Coming before the prevailing economics textbooks by N.Gregory Mankiw and Joseph Stiglitz, Samuelson's textbook is not only popular among our generation, but was also the book that brought modern economics to our teachers," said Wang Haiwen, a teacher with a PhD in economics at Beijing International Studies University. "We can feel his influence from basic economics to advanced courses."

"In plain and lively words, the impact of Samuelson goes beyond theoretical fields, and penetrates into policy decisions of American economic life," Wang noted.

Samuelson was an advisor to US presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and for years wrote a popular column in Newsweek magazine.

Reuters – Global Times