The American Economic Association announced on Friday that Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley, Department of Economics) has won the 2009 John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the "American economist under the age of forty who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." From the press release:
Emmanuel Saez has distinguished himself through definitive contributions to the field of Public Economics. His work attacks policy questions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, on the one hand refining the theory in ways that link the characteristics of optimal policy to measurable aspects of the economy and of behavior, while on the other hand undertaking careful and creative empirical studies designed to fill the gaps in measurement identified by the theory. Through a collection of interrelated papers, he has brought the theory of taxation closer to practical policy making, and has helped to lead a resurgence of academic interest in taxation.
