If budget planning requires gathering information from people who may not always have the incentive to disclose that information, then the principles of mechanism design can definitely be of use in such planning. Eric Maskin Read Quote
If I’m a bank, and I’m making risky loans, I have an incentive, if I can, to make those loans using other people’s money: in other words, to make highly leveraged loans. Eric Maskin Read Quote
Leo Hurwicz is the father of mechanism design theory and has inspired much of my work, and Roger Myerson is an old friend and collaborator and a tremendous economist. Eric Maskin Read Quote
Prediction is certainly a valuable goal in science, but not the only one. Explanation is also important, and there are plenty of sciences that do a lot of explaining and not much predicting. Eric Maskin Read Quote
When a bank calls in a loan, it obviously hurts the customer in question. But it also adversely affects other banks that have lent to this borrower. They are now less likely to be repaid and so can’t as readily lend to their own customers. Eric Maskin Read Quote
Most policy makers embrace a religious-like belief that the market can and should solve every problem. Eric Maskin Read Quote
I entered economics because of a course I took on ‘information economics,’ which I found fascinating. Eric Maskin Read Quote
At Tenafly High, I was lucky to have some dedicated teachers; I’m especially indebted to my calculus instructor, Francis Piersa, who opened my eyes to the striking beauty of mathematics. Eric Maskin Read Quote
I probably learned most at MIT by teaching and working with Peter Diamond, who acted like a big brother to me during my time in the department. Eric Maskin Read Quote
