ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610140047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE 82-YEAR-OLD economist's life was devoted to the real-life application of his economic principles.
William Vickrey waited 45 years for his economic theories to be recognized with a Nobel Prize. He enjoyed it for only three days before dying Friday, collapsing in his car on the way to an academic conference.
The 82-year-old retired Columbia University professor had been relishing his sudden honor as a Nobel winner since Tuesday, enjoying a champagne party with colleagues and giving interview after interview.
``We were all a bit concerned that maybe this was too much,'' said Professor Ronald Findlay, chairman of Columbia's economics department. ``He said, `No, no, don't worry. I'm perfectly OK.'''
Findlay described Vickrey as an ``absent-minded professor type'' who used to park several blocks from Columbia and roller-skate to work. The vigorous, heavy-set man never lost his enthusiasm for his ideas.
Vickrey, who had been driving alone to Boston for an academic conference, was found Thursday night, slumped over his steering wheel in a northbound lane of a parkway in Harrison, about 30 miles north of New York City, said Columbia spokeswoman Suzanne Trimel.
Vickrey shared the economics Nobel - and a prize of $1.12 million - with James Mirrlees of Britain's Cambridge University for their separate work on ``asymmetric information.'' That field seeks to maximize economic efficiency when two sides have incomplete information about each other.
Vickrey had focused on practical matters such as efficient use of public transportation. He failed to persuade New York's City's transit authority to use a progressive fare system, charging more for long trips than for short rides and putting a premium fare on rush-hour travel.
Vickrey had greater success at applying his theories on auctions. In the form of auction now known as a ``Vickrey auction,'' where bids are sealed, but the person who submits the highest bid pays only the price stated in the next-highest bid.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB