Paul Samuelson won the 1970 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing and applying dynamic economic theory.
Samuelson was the first sole recipient of the economics prize. His work helped connect static economic models with questions involving time, adjustment, growth, and stability. He also made major contributions to consumer theory, welfare economics, public finance, and international trade.
His 1947 book, Foundations of Economic Analysis, became one of the most influential economics textbooks and research works of the twentieth century. Samuelson used mathematics to unify ideas from different areas of economics, helping establish modern mathematical economics.
The prize’s formal name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, although it is commonly called the Nobel Prize in Economics. Samuelson is sometimes confused with Milton Friedman, who won the prize in 1976, and Robert Solow, who won it in 1987.