In 1994, Assar Lindbeck—regarded as Sweden’s most important economist—is the chairman of the committee for the Nobel Prize in Economics. Though Lindbeck is at first skeptical about John Nash’s merits as a candidate for Nobel Prize (after Jorgen Weibull puts forward Nash’s name), Lindbeck later suggests a three-way prize for achievements in game theory for Nash, John Harsanyi, and Reinhard Selten. He defends Nash against Ingemar Stahl’s objections, believing that the Nobel Prize would help “lift [Nash] into daylight,” relieving some of the suffering he had faced because of his mental illness.
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Assar Lindbeck Character Timeline in A Beautiful Mind
The timeline below shows where the character Assar Lindbeck appears in A Beautiful Mind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 48 – The Prize
...tasked with presenting a report on Nash’s work to the Nobel Prize selection committee. Assar Lindbeck, Sweden’s most important economist and the chairman of the committee, asks Weibull to find out...
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...awarding the prize to him: Stahl informs the committee that Nash has a mental illness. Lindbeck, however, “knocked down” Stahl’s objections, though he, too, is concerned that Nash might act peculiarly...
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...scientists and mathematicians have questioned the quality of Laureates over the years. The debate between Lindbeck and Stahl over Nash’s selection takes place against a backdrop of hostile relations within the...
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...his contribution to game theory—which Stahl considers “more mathematics than economics”—nearly half a century earlier. Lindbeck is stunned by Stahl’s public dissent, since Stahl had eventually conceded that the prize should...
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