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Jorgen Weibull
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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