Intro
Raised on a farm in Kansas and having done his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, Vernon Smith didn’t necessarily expect to be called the forefather of a new type of economics. A keen interest in his senior year economics course at Caltech University, however, led Smith to pursue an MA in economics, if only to help him decide if it was where he wanted to continue his life’s work. Like many others, Smith’s path took unique twists and turns, which eventually led him to the field of experimental economics. Experimental economics uses real people, under controlled conditions, to test economic theories and hypotheses, in order to help policymakers make more accurate predictions about how economic concepts play out in practice. Since its introduction, experimental economics has helped economists, psychologists, and policymakers make more informed decisions about how different economic models might affect individuals and society.
I gradually became persuaded that the subjects, without intending to, had revealed to me a basic truth about markets that was foreign to the literature of economics.
– Vernon L. Smith
