Thomas C. Schelling, Nobel Laureate

by Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

Thomas C. Schelling and Robert J. Aumann are the joint recipients of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics. Tom Schelling, 84, now at the University of Maryland, made much of his distinctive contribution to applied game theory in his four decades at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University from the mid-20th century till 1990.

His research and immense intellectual output contributed much to the Kennedy School acquiring its reputation for excellence. Over the decades, other faculty, students and visiting scholars have looked forward to and gained from interacting with him.

I had just enrolled in mid-1984 for a one year (2 semesters) Mid-career Masters Programme at the Kennedy School when I attended a lecture by Tom Schelling on global warming. That subject was then much less in vogue than now but, predictably, the hall was full.

The lucid identification of the critical issues and cold sharp analysis of the available options, set out in characteristic terse prose, gripped and retained my attention and that of virtually everyone present.

I immediately decided to take, in my first semester, 'Conflict and Strategy', which was, for many years, Tom Schelling's only course offering. That extra-ordinary multi-disciplinary course had evolved, over the decades, around his theories and thinking.

He preferred a small class so as to do without a Teaching Fellow and maintain total control, and had a creative and acceptable strategy to discourage excessive enrolment. I consider that course as the most exciting that I have come across anywhere.

In the next semester, Tom Schelling, together with Glenn Loury, offered a new course titled 'Public Policy in Divided Societies'. I took that course too. During that semester, Tom Schelling and I agreed that it would be a good idea for me to stay on for a Doctoral Programme on 'An Inter-Country Study of Affirmative Action', which was the subject of one of my papers in Public Policy in Divided Societies.

He would be my Supervisor, and I would be appointed as Teaching Fellow on both courses. I found that Doctoral Progamme and the Teaching Fellowships to be enormously rewarding in many ways.

Though Tom Schelling was among those who contributed most to developing strategic studies as an academic discipline, he was no dry theoretician. Every principle that he introduced was backed by multiple examples that everyone could understand and appreciate.

These were culled from ancient history, current events, films, short stories, news items and everyday experiences. Core course themes such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, and many readings remained unchanged, but he kept his mind, eyes and ears open, and brought in new readings and fresh examples every semester.

The examples may relate to international relations (e.g. the Cold War, negotiating an end to the Vietnam War, etc.), military strategy (e.g. an army commander cutting off all retreat options of his own troops), social and environmental issues (e.g. global warming, resource conservation at all levels, etc.), interpersonal relations (between colleagues, within the family, between business rivals, etc.), interaction between different species ranging from large mammal to bacteria (based on competition, mutual dependence, etc.) or struggles against various addictions.

He made it clear that the course was about strategies, not values.

To those who would protest that the principles and strategies are abstractions divorced from reality, he would respond that if we are alert, we would discover that all of us, every day, encounter many incidents that illustrate several of these principles and strategies. All, even infants, resort to strategies, consciously or instinctively. The course objective is to enhance awareness and efficiency.

Tom Schelling stands out in any company, even among Nobel Laureates. But much of his most important work came out decades ago. It may be asked why he was not awarded a Nobel Prize much earlier, say in the 70s or 80s. Perhaps it was because he cannot be easily contained within any of the recognized Nobel categories.

He began as an economist but has constantly strayed from that field into many others. Few economists will recognize any of his books as primarily within their discipline.

He even disclaims being 'a real Game Theorist' presumably as against being 'an Applied Game Theorist'. But whatever ambiguities there may be in defining his core discipline, many Nobel Prize winners will surely find it flattering to count Tom Schelling as a fellow Laureate, even as I consider myself privileged that he was my Professor and Supervisor during my years at Harvard.