Akerlof (George Akerlof)

George Akerlof is an economist renowned for his work on how markets can fail when information is unevenly distributed. His most famous idea, the "market for lemons," explains how the sale of used cars suffers because sellers know more about the car's condition than buyers, leading to a reduction in quality and market efficiency. This concept highlights the importance of information symmetry for healthy markets and has broad applications in finance, insurance, and other fields, showing how lack of transparency can cause suboptimal outcomes.