Arrow's Impossibility Theorem
There is no fair way to turn what a group of people each want into what the group wants. This is not a complaint about politics. It is a theorem.
1950 (paper), 1951 (book), 1963 (corrected second edition)25 min read
Indian economics and moral philosophy
Amartya Sen
1933
Indian economist and philosopher, awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize for work on welfare economics, social choice and famine. Collective Choice and Social Welfare (1970) mapped the escape routes from Arrow's theorem, showing that admitting interpersonal comparisons of welfare restores possibility. He also proved the impossibility of a Paretian liberal, and his capability approach reshaped how development is measured.