简介：被誉为经济学界“小诺贝尔奖”的约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖于１９４７年著名经济学家约翰·贝茨·克拉克诞辰100周年之际所设立，自１９４７-２００９起每两年颁布一次，,颁给４０岁以下的对经济学做出杰出贡献的美国经济学家。克拉克奖章被视为诺贝尔奖的重要指针，获得此奖章的学者，通常会引起瑞典皇家科学院诺贝尔经济学奖评选委员会的注意。过去３０位克拉克奖章得奖人中，共有１２位获得诺贝尔经济学奖，比例高达1/3以上。由于约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖的颁奖对象仅局限于中青年经济学家，而诺贝尔经济学奖的颁奖对象往往为资深经济学家，因此，在历届约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖得主之中，荣获诺贝尔经济学奖的经济学家均只可能出自早期的约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖得主之中。
伊曼纽尔.赛斯（Emmanuel Saez），财富和收入不平等原因方面的前沿研究者，已经赢得了２００９年约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖（John Bates Clark medal），被美国经济协会授予为美国４０岁以下最有前途的经济学家。
Mr. Saez，加州大学伯克利分校３６岁的教授，在向着财富金字塔的最顶端冲刺。他于１９９年在麻省理工学院获得博士学位，并在２００２年加入伯克利的经济系。
其他获得奖章的３０位经济学家中，有１２位已经获得了诺贝尔经济学奖，其中包括去年的得主，普林斯顿大学的保罗·克鲁格曼教授（Paul R. Krugman），其他获奖者包括白宫国家经济委员会主任Lawrence Summers ，史蒂芬·都伯纳（Steve Levitt），畅销书《魔鬼经济学（Freakonomics）》的合著者。自１９４７年首度颁奖以来，克拉克奖章每两年颁布一次，但从明年起将每年颁布。
Mr. Saez 和巴黎经济学院的Thomas Piketty，检查了美国和其他国家的收入-税收数据，来源于对于收入不平等的历史估计，在他们的调查结果中，在金融危机开始前，收入前１%的家庭占有了美国将近四分之一的收入，其最大份额起始于１９世纪２０年代后期。
Messrs. Saez 和 Piketty的工作已经引起了争议。在２００６年Wall Street Journal（华尔街日报）的一篇文章中，卡托研究所（the Cato Institute）的Alan Reynolds 从技术层面对他们的结果提出了争议，比如说与官方人口普查的估计不一致
而经济学家们反驳说，人口普查的估计是基于调查的数据，而这些调查并不能反应富裕者的真实收入。
Mr. Saez，一位喜爱冲浪的随和的法国人，已经拒绝了来自于MIT和哈佛大学经济系的提议。同时他也在税收理论方面做出了卓越的贡献，包括政府如何设置最优税收政策和家庭对税收的反应。
注：自1947年首度颁发以来，截止2007年，除1953年未颁奖外，共颁发30届，先后有30位美国经济学家荣获此项殊荣，有１２名获得了诺贝尔经济学奖。他们依次是：
Expert on Wealth Wins a Top Economics Honor
By JUSTIN LAHART
来源：http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124060090850353803.html
Emmanuel Saez, a leading researcher on the causes of wealth and income inequality, has won the John Bates Clark medal, awarded to the nation's most promising economist under 40 by the American Economic Association.
Mr. Saez, a 36-year-old professor at the University of California, Berkeley, focuses on the very top of the wealth pyramid. He earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and joined Berkeley's economics department in 2002.
Of the 30 other economists who have won the Clark medal, 12 have gone on to win the Nobel prize in economics, including last year's winner, Paul Krugman of Princeton University.
Other past winners include White House National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers and Steve Levitt, co-author of the best-seller "Freakonomics." Since it was first awarded in 1947, the Clark has been given out every two years, but beginning next year it will be awarded annually.
Mr. Saez and Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics examined income-tax figures from the U.S. and other countries to derive historic estimates of income inequality. Among their findings: Before the onset of the financial crisis, the top 1% of families by income accounted for nearly a quarter of U.S. income -- their largest share since the late 1920s.
Messrs. Saez and Piketty's work has stirred controversy. In a 2006 opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute disputed their results on technical points, such as inconsistencies with official Census Department estimates.
The economists countered that Census estimates are based on survey data that can't capture the incomes of the very rich.
Mr. Saez, an easygoing Frenchman who loves surfing, has resisted overtures from the powerhouse economics departments at MIT and Harvard University. He has also made important contributions to tax theory, including how governments can optimally set tax policy and how households behave in response to taxes.
Write to Justin Lahart at justin.lahart@wsj.com
